The Hunter's Academy
by RoarMeow12
Summary: Shizuo is trying to become a youkai hunter. But he does not have a youkai partner, which he needs to get through the academy. But what happens when he runs into an annoying Kitsune that loves to play with humans?
1. Chapter 1

**Ok so this is my first DRR fanfic. Let me know if I mess up at all. I also do not know any of the characters I just manipulate them :)**

"You still have not caught your own youkai?" questioned a brunette boy in a white lab coat.

The blonde in question glared at the former, "Why would I need one if I am inhumanly strong?"

"Come on Shizuo, you know that to be a youkai hunter it would be a lot easier to have one on your side. I am only a researcher and I have my Celty with me for help" smiled the brunette as he bit into a sandwich.

The two boys were on the roof of the high school eating their lunch.

"Leave me alone Shinra. I will hunt down those youkai with or without a partner" huffed the blonde, Shizuo.

A few moments later they heard the door to the roof open. Turning around they saw a woman in an all-black biker's suite with no head walk out to join them.

"Celty my darling. Did you come to join us for lunch?" he squealed as he jumped up to give her a hug.

Quickly the woman side stepped the hug and pulled out her PDA, -No your lunch is over. The teacher asked me to come and get you-

The trio quickly made their way downstairs and back to the classroom.

At the front of the room stood a man in an all-white suit. This man was known as one of the most prominent hunters in the youkai hunting community. Shiki Haruya, he has a constant aura of evil around him. Shizuo does his best to not be in the teacher's presence because he has a deep feeling that the man in white is dangerous and he does not want anything to do with him.

Shiki rose from his desk and instantly all of the idle chatter in the room quieted as they looked to the dangerous man. He glared across the student making a few other shift uncomfortably in their seats.

"All partners split into your teams" growled the teacher.

The students quickly moved into their youkai partners and waited for their next instructions. Shiki glanced over all of the pairs until his eyes settled on Shizuo who continued to sit in his seat with no care in the world.

With a deep sigh the man in white walked over to the blonde, "Heiwajima still no partner?"

The fake blonde just glared at the teacher before looking out the window.

"You graduate in 6 months. To become a Youkai hunter you will need a partner to be certified." He stated trying to get the teenager to realize his situation.

Shizuo just huffed and continued to stare out the window to watch the freshmen running around the school for P.E. class. Shiki shook his head and focused back on the class to move on with lecture.

For the next hour Shizuo watched as Celty and Shinra worked on an exercise where they had to work together to figure out were Shiki hid an object in the class room. No one managed to figure out the location of the object so the white clad teacher stopped the exercise in frustration.

"Sense no one was able to figure this out let's move on." Stated the teacher with slight annoyance as he started to write on the board, "We will first discuss the history of youkai. Does anybody know the different clans of the youkai?"

A girl in the front row jumped up over excitedly, "yes Erika?" asked Shiki with another deep sigh.

Erika, the girl in question, has a deep infatuation with all Youkai but she takes it a little too far when she starts on a rant about BL and other things. Causing Shiki to get headaches when she answers questions.

"The different youkai clans are the Tengu who rule the skies with their lighting power. They are the strongest of the yokai and rule with an iron fist. Next are the Tsuchigumo the spider like yokai who rule the mountains. What they lack in power they make up for in numbers as the largest clan." She said excitedly.

"Thank you Mrs. Karisawa" Shiki said quickly before she could into a rant about her fantasies, "Now does anyone know about the third clan?"

Everyone in the room looked to their serious teacher in confusion. The Tengu and the Tsuchigumo clans are the most well-known clans for their constant attacks on humans and the extensive research that has been gathered on the groups.

Turning to the board Shiki began to write down a bunch of information on the board. The atmosphere in the room turning chilly.

"The final clan in the yokai world are the kitsune. They are known as the tricksters because of their ability take on a human form and blend in. The Kistune have never been documented to be partnered with any hunters so we have little to no data on them expect from what hunters have told from small experiences" at this point Shiki's mood turned cold, "these yokai are to not be underestimated, they are cold blooded killers and feel no remorse."

None of the students knew how to respond to the seriousness in their teacher's demeanor. All they heard was the sound of a pencil falling on the ground. Luckily after a few moments the bell to end school went off. Quickly the students gathered their stuff and shuffled out of classroom.

Shinra, Shizuo and Celty made their way towards Shinra's house to do their homework while Shizuo waited for his parents to get home.

"Celty have you ever met a Kitsune?" Shinra's overly excited voice asked.

The headless Dullahan tapped away on her phone, _Yes, I met one once a long time ago._

This peaked the wanna be researcher's ears, "What was it like?"

 _I don't really remember. It was so long ago. He was only a pup at the time._

Shinra went into research mode continuing to ask his partner more too detailed questions that she could not answer.

"Shinra do you know how to do the math homework for tonight?" Shizuo asked in hopes of helping the dullahan.

The brunette turned his attention to his childhood friend with a bright smile, "Of course Shizuo!"

Thus turning the walk to the apartment into a math tutoring session.

It was turning into night and the woods were coming alive. He could hear the rustling of the leaves behind him as he ran through the underbrush. The wound on his side was starting to make itself known by the pain radiating through his body with every step.

"You can't hide from us!" roared a voice from behind.

He skidded to a halt as he ran right into his pursuers who managed to get ahead from him.

"Orihara!" screamed the hairy Tsuchigumo soldier.

He had managed to arrange a web around the area to capture his prey as the rest of his soldiers came in from behind.

"What can I do for you Hikade-san?" asked the now captured prey with a smirk.

The spider's dark eyes narrowed at the kitsune, "Give us the information we asked for?"

Tails swishing behind him, the dark haired yokai smirked, "I am sorry but I only give out information I want to give out. I don't feel like dealing in the affairs of your 30 children." Came the chuckled reply.

"This is why master does not like you Izaya. You are too smug for your own good" growled Hikade as his soldiers readied to attack.

The kitsune informant just flicked his multiple tails in amusement, "Well you can tell your master that I do not like him as well. He does not need to call me for information anymore in the future"

The leader gave out an angry roar signaling the other spiders into attack. Webbing shot out at the lonely informant. Izaya jumped to the closest tree and pulled himself up as quickly as possible with his injury and began to jump from tree to tree with the spiders close on his heels. The moon was luckily out and helped him see where the next branch was but in retrospect it also helped his pursuers in seeing him.

Looking ahead Izaya could see the lights on the human settlement. He would normally never run into a place covered in humans but he needed to get away from his angry clients. He was close to one hundred feet away from the first street lamp when he felt a stabbing pain in his back causing him to stumble and fall from the tree. Luckily he managed to fall in a push to help and brace his fall but it caused the knife in his back to dig in even deeper.

Clenching his eyes in pain Izaya quickly reached behind himself and pulled the knife out of the wound, causing fresh blood to flow down his black shirt. He turned his ruby eyes up see that Hikade and his men had caught up to him.

"Can't run now you fox" growled the leader as he kicked the downed youkai in the ribs.

Surprisingly a spider's leg was really strong, Izaya struggled to not make a sound as he glared at the clan members.

"It is time you learn who you have messed with kitsune brat" chuckled one of the other men darkly.

With a silent nod from Hikade the others advanced. One of the soldiers restrained Izaya's arms behind his back with strong webbing and had the same treatment done to his tails and legs. Once they were sure he could not get away the spiders started to hit his defenseless torso with their multiple legs or thick tree branches. Instead of focusing on the pain Izaya focused soley on trying to not give his attackers the benefit of hearing him scream so he just continued to glare at them.

 **That was the first chapter! What do you think?**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you for all of the reviews! They prompted me to update this sooner than I planned :)**

 **I still own nothing. Enjoy!**

"Shizuo why did you throw that kid into the wall" questioned Shinra as they walked down the street on the way back to his apartment.

Shizuo just continued to look down with his hands stuffed in his pockets as he tried to calm down his anger.

Celty typed in her phone, " _A kid from your school was asking about his youkai partner"_

Shinra took a moment to read the message before adjusting his glasses and nodding in understanding, "Don't worry Shizuo you will find a partner soon." He said happily.

They were walking along the forest by now and were only five minutes from the brunette's apartment. After school they had decided to walk around instead of do homework so soon. They had been at a local hang out where kids gathered to play games when a group of students had decided to pick on Shizuo. These students were unaware of Shizuo's anger problem and had met the angry blonde by his fist.

"I don't need your pity Shinra" growled the fake blonde.

Before the brunette could reply, the sound of laughing filled the air. Not a happy child's laughter but a dark menacing chuckle. The trio stopped in surprise, they were the only ones on the street. Now that they focused on the noise they realized that it was coming from the woods.

"I wonder what is going on. No one is supposed to be in the woods after dark" whispered Shinra as he hid behind his dullahan partner.

Shizuo sighed and jumped over the railing to head into the woods. "Shizuo what are you doing?" yelped Shinra as he tried to reach for his friend.

The blonde turned back to his friend with an annoyed look, "Those could be some kids from our class. Let's just go check and make sure."

He might get angry easily but Shizuo did care about people, even if those people were his classmates who made fun of him.

"What if it is a youkai?" came the scared reply.

In response he felt a tap on his shoulder and he looked over to his headless girlfriend and blushed in embarrassed, "Sorry Celty. Ok let's just be quickly.

Just as the trio was about to start on their search through the woods a pain screamed ripped through the trees. They quickly looked at each other and realized that this might be more that a group of students just hanging out in the woods. They quickly made their way through the underbrush, following the insane laughter and few pain shouts that came every few minutes.

Right before they broke through the underbrush that lead to the noises Celty used her shadows to stop the two teenagers.

 _"I sense youkai over there, no humans"_

Shinra and Shizuo nodded in understanding but came to a silent agreement that they would still look to see what was going on. Normally youkai did not come this close to the town so this was a strange occurrence. Getting down to a crawl the trio approached the last bush that separated them from the mystery group.

Shizuo's eyes widened at what he saw. Four Tsuchigumo were surrounding a smaller youkai and beating it. But what had caught the blonde's attention was the multiple tails that the furred youkai had.

"Celty is that what Shiki was talking about?" Whispered Shizuo to the headless being.

He could see the shadows move in what would have been a nod. "What is happening?" asked Shinra as he winced in sympathy for the downed creature as it was hit with more branches.

Before Shizuo could respond the captured kitsune let out a loud yell of pain, snapping his eyes back to the beating he saw that one of the spiders had stabbed a tail. The tails where jet black with the tips as red as fire. Looking closely he could see that one of the kitsunes other tails had already been pinned into the ground with a sword.

"We need to help it" growled Shizuo.

 _"Wait Shizuo, Kitsune are evil youkai. It might be better if we let the clan finish it off"_ read the screen that was shoved into his face.

"We can't just let them torture him to death" came the cold reply.

Before waiting for either of his friends to reply the blonde jumped from the underbrush and ran at the spiders.

 **Izaya Pov**

One of his seven tails had already been pinned to the ground. Blood was starting to pool around him as his eye sight slowly changed to black. Before he could slip into the welcoming oblivion one of the soldiers had stabbed another tail to the ground ripping him wide awake in pain.

Ruby eyes glared at the four spiders towering over him, promising them all death if he survives. Suddenly his fox ears twitched at a slight sound and he looked over at a bush in time to see a teenage boy jump out and run at Hikade. The spider did not stand a chance as he was punched in the face and sent sky high and a few miles deep in the forest.

Izaya looked over to the soldiers that were staring at the teenager in shock before they pulled out their swords and attacked with blade and webs. Again the blonde showed his monstrous strength and grabbed a tree like it was nothing straight out of the ground and swung it across the advancing enemies. Sending them to their boss, in less than a minute all of the clansmen had been cleared from the area.

"Hey you are not gonna bite or anything right?" came a gruff voice.

Snapping out of his surprise Izaya looked up to see the blonde staring at him in annoyance as he waited for the reply.

"I think I should be the one to ask that" smirked the kitsune.

Shizuo glared down at the bound youkai and a vein popped in his head at the smug reply. He did not like this guy.

"You were right Celty" growled Shizuo as he turned to face his two approaching friends, "These guys are evil. He doesn't even have the decency to say thank you"

Celty slowly approached Izaya and typed a question into her PDA and showed it to him.

"I see you're a headless Dullahan. I wonder were your head has gone to" chucked the raven hair youkai.

Said Dullahan's smoke seemed to change pattern into that of annoyance and shoved the PDA closer to his face.

"You want to know why I was being attacked. Oh well you see they did not like the information that I provided their leader" he sighed in amusement.

"Information?" question Shinra as he stood behind his partner.

"Sorry but you will have to pay if you want to know any information from me. Now could you please untie me so we can all forget this happened?" asked the kitsune.

But before anyone could reply or move, a group of men and youkai jumped into the clearing. One of them being Shiki.

"What is going on here?" he demanded as he help up a torch to see better in the darkness.

Shinra gulped loudly as he jumped behind Celty, "Nothing Sir!"

"We heard noises and found this thing being attacked by spider men" stated Shizuo as he leaned against a tree.

Shiki followed the blonde's eyes and seemed to now notice the bound kitsune on the ground.

"A Kistune" came the whispers of the town men that surrounded the group. After all no one has ever seen a Kistune before.

"Shu, Mizuki grab it" came Shiki's cold order.

Out of the darkness came the two oni, one blue and one red. Shu, the blue oni, grabbed Izaya from the ground by the scruff of his neck. Causing a pain groan from the fox. Mizuki, the red oni, ripped the blades from the two pinned tails, this caused a yell to split through the night.

"He has seven tails" came Mizuki's happy report once he managed to count them.

The whispers grew at this point, the more tail means the more powerful a kitsune was.

"Where is the rest of your clan?" questioned the teacher as he glared at the wounded fox.

Ruby eyes clouded in pain glared back as his answer. Not satisfied Shu slammed the bound youkai into the ground face first before picking him back up. This time Izaya was barely conscious as tried to struggle to stay awake.

"Sir, what are you doing? He is extremely inured" exclaimed Shinra as he went into doctor mode.

He was never a fan of youkai being injured for no reason. Especially when it could not fight back.

"I would hold my tongue if I were you boy. You are not supposed to be in these woods you are lucky that Shiki is not punishing you right now for that" growled Mizuki as he glared at the brunette.

Giving a small yelp Shinra ducked back behind his partner as she turned to put herself in between the brunette and the demon.

"Besides a youkai with no partner is not within the laws to be treated kindly" huffed one man in the crowd.

"Those Kitsune are only known for bringing trouble, kill it now Shiki" roar another man with a torch.

Shiki looked to the group behind him and saw that they all seemed to want the youkai dead, not really in opposition to this idea he gave an evil grin.

"Very well. Shu, Mizuki you have not had any fun in a while. You may dispose of this fox as you see fit" he ordered.

Both oni gave and equally evil smirk as they ripped the webbing from Izaya's wounded body. Before Izaya had the chance to take advantage of this, one oni grabbed his right arm and the other grabbed his left arm and snapped the bones in half. The sickening break could be heard by all in the clearing. Shizuo grit his teeth at the animal like sound that ripped from the fox's throat.

He turned away unable to watch anymore. There was another crack followed by another scream but it was cut short. Shizuo snapped back up to see what caused this and his eyes went wide in shock. Mizuki had punched him in the stomach, after breaking on of his legs, causing all of the air to rush out of his lungs.

Shu wrapped his large blue fingers in the raven like hair and pulled him up to his now one good leg and punch him in a the face. With both arms broken to catch himself with the fox gasped in unimaginable pain as he laid on the ground in hopes of unconsciousness. But the two oni only smiled even more at this as they stomped on two tails.

By this point Izaya was praying for death. His body was broken and it was humiliating that this group of humans just stood there and watched him get tortured like this. He saw of the corner of his eye the man in white step forward towards his partners.

"I think that has been enough play time. Kill the thing" Shiki ordered, getting bored with the torture of the Kitsune.

Ruby eyes shifted back to his attackers to see the red one raise a foot to stomp on his head. Not even able to move his head a centimeter the kitsune just waited for all the pain to end. But instead of the feeling of a foot smashing his skull into little pieces he heard a growl and then a tree snap in half.

Opening the eyes he did not even realize he closed Izaya looked around the see the blue and red oni's on their back with looks of surprise on their faces. Next the group of humans looked both surprised and scared. The man in white glared hard at something to Izaya's right with immense hate. Painfully turning his gave to the direction of everyone looks Izaya was slightly surprised to see the blonde boy from before standing a few feet away from him with another tree in his grasp.

"This Kitsune is my partner" growled the teenager.

Both the oni's jumped to their feet, "Like hell he is. You don't even know his name to make the pact" growled Mizuki.

Shiki stepped forward again with hate burning in his eyes, "If you can get this kitsune to agree to the pact then I will permit this partnership. But if he does not then we will take him back for studying"

Shizuo's spine ran cold to that, he had been studied on when he was a kid because of his strength. The things they did to him were inhumane and he could not even imagine what they would do the kitsune whom everyone seemed to hate.

Dropping the tree Shizuo turned to the barely conscious fox and got down on his knees so he could talk to him semi-privately.

"Hey you still alive?" he asked hoping those eyes would open.

Slowly ruby eyes reviled themselves, "What do you care?" he couched with blood running down his chin.

The blonde stared into the youkai's pained eyes and could see a fire in them that could only mean he wanted to live to come back and fight these people. With a smirk Shizuo wiped the blood from the fox's chin.

"Do you want to be my partner? This way they won't kill you or experiment on you" he asked.

Izaya let out a pain laugh, "What could a beast like you want with a partner? You just took down five youkai by yourself with a tree."

Shizuo laughed slightly as well, after all he could beat most youkai with his bare hand alone, "I just don't want you to die from these guys" he said nodding to the oni behind him, "I want to kill you myself that way I can prove to everyone that I don't need a partner"

"So you save me today only to kill me later? How monstrous" chuckled Izaya as a spasm of pain went through his body leaving him breathless.

"But I have always been wanting to visit a human town. I guess it would be fun" agreed the kitsune after he recovered his breath.

Shizuo nodded, glad that he had agreed quickly, "Ok I need your real name. If you give me a fake one then the pact will not work and Shiki will kill you"

With a sigh Izaya gave a slight nod, "I am Izaya Orihara, pleasure to meet you"

"Shizuo Heiwajima. Now I need to do the pact I am going to have to cut your hand a little" he explained as he pulled a knife from the ground, that was originally in the kistune's tails.

"Very well" moaned the Kitsune as he still struggled to stay conscious.

Making a cut along both of their right palms Shizuo pressed them together in a blood pact, "I, Shizuo Heiwajima enlist the partnership between a man and youkai to that of Izaya Orihara of the Kitsune" he stated as he felt his hand to start feel warm.

"I, Izaya Orihara agree to the partnership" replied the kitsune.

Shizuo let out a surprised gasp of pain at the heat between their hands. Once the heat went away he released them and saw that the cut was gone.

"Don't worry that is normal. The pact has been made" said Shinra as he rested a hand on Shizuo's shoulder.

Shizuo nodded in confirmation as he turned his attention to his new partner. Izaya barely had his eyes open now and Shizuo felt concern for the Kitsune in the back on his mind.

"Shinra will you be able to help him?" he asked his childhood friend.

Before the brunette could reply Shiki made his presence known, "I want a test of this pact. To make sure that the Kitsune gave you his real name" he stated.

"How do we do that?" asked Shizuo.

Shiki just nodded to Mizuki who using his youkai speed charged at Shizuo.

Surprised Shizuo put his arms up in defense of his face but instead of a fist he felt air brush into him. Confused he put his arms down and was surprised to see Izaya standing before him with Mizuki's fist in his stomach.

"Hmmm. It seems that he was not lying." Came one of the men from earlier.

Shizuo was confused for a moment before was Izaya falling backward and eyes rolling into the back of his head. The blonde easily caught his new partner in his arms and was concerned with the amount of blood seeping into his t-shirt.

"The pact is true. I will see you in class tomorrow" came Shiki's voice as the group disappeared as quickly as they had arrived.

Shizuo glared at the shadows of the men as he held the dark haired youkai to his chest.

Once they were all gone Shinra snapped into doctor mode, "Shizuo let's go we need to get him back to my house before he bleeds out"

Gathering the unconscious fox in his arms the trio ran off back to the brunette's apartment.


	3. Chapter 3

**_Ok so this chapter is really short. But I will try to update again with a longer piece by Friday._**

 _"Don't worry Shizuo. Shinra will have him fixed good as new"_

"I am not worried Celty. I barely know the guy so I don't really care if he lives or dies." Huffed the teenager as he watched the TV.

Celty's shoulder's seemed to sigh in defeat. They had arrived back to the apartment three hours ago and Celty had tried to help her friend but he did not seem to want it.

"I am kind of confused about why he took that punch for me" stated the blond.

Tap tap tap

 _"There was more to that punch than just a fist. Mizuki was using his demon energy. As a partner to a human we are responsible to protect you. That pact creates a sixth sense of sorts for the youkai to know when his partner is in danger and we get an urge to protect no matter what. That is why Izaya jumped infornt of you even though he could barely stay conscious."_

"Shiki had his partner attack to have Izaya react? So what would have happened if Izaya did not protect me?

Tap tap tap

 _"You may be strong Shizuo but I doubt demonic attacks would be good for you. You might have been hurt and Shiki would have ordered Izaya to be killed."_

The blonde hummed in understanding before he went back to watching the news. The two friends settling into a comfortable silence while they waited to see what would happen.

"AHHH!" came a scream from the examination room.

Shizuo and Celty bothed jumped up from the couch and made their way to the room. Shinra was standing with his back to the door and preventing the two from seeing the bed.

"Shinra are you all right?" asked Shizuo as he made his way closer hesitantly.

The brunette turned around with a huge grin on his face, "This is amazing"

Confused the blonde turned to the bed to see bandages all over the bed and a small black fox laying curled up on the bed. Its seven tails wrapping around its body like a shield.

"What happened?"

 _"Well I have heard that kitsune, when badly injured, take on another form so that they do not waste energy. That must be what Izaya is trying to do now"_ came the bright screen.

"Another form? Celty why didn't you tell me?" Shinra squawked.

 _You never asked_

"Are you able to treat him?" asked Shizuo trying to get back on topic.

Shinra pushed up his glasses as he entered serious mode, "I am uncertain. I gave him light pain killer's sense I do not know how they will act in his body. But now that he is a fox I cannot do much for him. I am not a vet."

Shizuo hummed in response as he sat down in the chair next to the bed watching the small animal.

Celty took Shinra out of the room because the brunette was dead tired and they still had to go to school tomorrow.

The blonde's attention was brought back to the fox when he heard a small whimper. He saw the black fox fidgeting on the plush mattress. But it seemed that every time it moved it caused pain because of his broken legs and other wounds. The puppy almost seemed to be searching for something his sleep as it kept moving around.

Concerned that he would hurt himself with all of the movement Shizuo tried petting him to see if that would sooth him. It always worked with his pet dogs. Thankfully it seemed to work because the fox settled and went back into sleep. But when Shizuo tried to retract his hand the fox started to whimper and move again.

Knowing that he could not stay like this all night, because needed to get some sleep before class, he carefully picked up the wounded animal and moved into the bed. Once he was settled he rested the fox on his chest and fell into a deep sleep.

 **Alright so I have 2 ways I can go with this project. So it is up to you guys to let me know what you think. Either a Shizaya fic or keep it as a friendship? Review and let me know :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**I promised you Friday and here it is:) So I have decided to make this into a Shizaya. But it wont show up for a few more chapters.**

 **Thank you so much for all of the awesome reviews! It helps to keep me motivated to finish on time when I know I have such wonderful people waiting for the update.**

 **I hope you all enjoy!**

"Shizuo wake up! We need to go to school!" chirped Shinra as he towered over his childhood friend.

Groaning the blonde rolled over trying to get a few more minutes of sleep. The sunlight filled the room as the brunette pulled the blinds back. Growling the Shizuo sat up and rubbed the sleep from his face and looked around the room. He was confused as to why he was at Shinra's house on a school night. Then, slowly the memories of last night came back to him and he jumped up from bed almost hitting the brunette in the process.

"Where's the fox?" he asked when he did not see the black puppy in the bed.

Shinra gave his beaming smile, "I have him in the living room with Celty. She is educating him on how he is to act in school"

The blonde nodded at this. It would be bad if on the first day Izaya caused problems. Especially with Shiki there. The man seemed to hold a hatred for the fox.

After getting dressed he walked out to see the dullahan and Kistune sitting on the couch. Izaya was still in his fox form while he rested in a beam of sunlight that warmed the couch cushion. The small ears twitched as Shizuo stepped into the room. The blood red eyes turned to look at his new partner and he turned back to the dullahan for a moment. Turning back to the blonde, the fox's seven tails start to shift into what looked like a happy wagging that pet dogs do. Maybe the Kitsune was happy to see him.

 _"Good morning Shizuo"_ greeted Celty with a small bow as she stood up to head to the kitchen.

"Morning. How are you doing Izaya?" he asked sitting down on the couch next to his partner.

He watched as the fox carefully stood up and limped over to him and curled into his lap. His ruby eyes turning up to meet Shizuo's. The blonde could almost understand that the kitsune was saying he was better than last night. After all, he had broken legs from the attack last night and this morning he showed that he was able to walk for a little bit. So his injuries were healing even if he was still hurting a little. Shizuo gave the fox a small smile before scratching behind his ear.

 _"He says he is doing better but he might be in this form for another week"_ said Celty as she came back with a cup of coffee for her friend.

Shinra walked in at this moment, "Wait you two can communicate?"

 _"Yes, we are able to communicate with each other. Almost like a psychic link"_ she informed the future researcher.

Shinra gaped at her, "Celty this opens up so many questions. Why don't you tell me these things?"

 _"Because I do not need any more probing done to me"_

That quickly sobered the brunette, "I am so sorry my dear! That was all my father" he cried as he tried to hug her only to receive an elbow in the ribs.

"We should probably go to school now" said Shizuo as he careful picked up the fox, who gave a yip in agreement.

The Raira Academy was like any other typical school expect that they specialize in the supernatural. They are also the only school in Japan that deals in youkai. The academy has produced some of the best hunters and researchers that the world had ever seen.

Shizuo groaned as the school yard came into view, it was average looking just like a normal school, there were students roaming around before classes started but one group caught the blonde's eye. There was one group of students that had made it their sole job to harass the volatile student. No one can understand why these three boys pick fights with the blonde but it serves as good entertainment so they just group around to watch.

"Heiwajima! You take the hunter exam yet? Oh wait there is no way you would be smart enough for that" laughed a red head as he approached Shizuo and Shinra as they walked through the gates.

"He is all muscle and no brain. I bet he does not even know how old he is" sneered another boy with dark hair and a mole on his chin.

"Good one Goro" laughed the red head at the mole faced student.

Shinra sighed, he hated these kids that continued to pick on his friend, "Goro, Haru the bell is about to ring. So please move"

The two boys turned their attention to the brunette and glared, not enjoying their past time being interrupted. The third boy who had yet to speak turned his attention to the blonde with a joke when he noticed the black fur in the boy's arms.

"The hell is that?" asked the boy pointing at the sleeping fox.

Instead of answering Shizuo just huffed before continuing on his walk to class. He did not have the patience to deal with them today when he knew that Mr. Shiki was going to be all over him today for the incident last night.

When he got to class Shiki was there and waiting with this two yoki flanking him.

"Come here Heiwajima" growled the teacher.

Shinra gave the blonde a slap on the shoulder before he left to his seat. Shiki lead them back out into the hallway were is was mostly empty sense the bell had already rung to begin class.

"Yes sir?" asked Shizuo trying to get the conversation started.

Shiki glared, "Where is your partner? He is supposed to be with you at school if you make a pact"

Shizuo shifted his arms a little drawing the older man's eyes to the fox. Seeming to understand he nodded before continuing.

"You better keep it on a leash. If he has one slip up he will be turned into the authorities. Kitsune are not welcome here." He stated coldness lacing his voice.

The blonde had expected this and just nodded in understanding. With the conversation over they went back into the class room.

They had their first break in lecturing after an hour. Shiki was called down to the main office to deal with a fight that broke out during PE. He was the main disciplinary teacher on campus.

After Shiki left the class erupted into talking and people moving about. Shizuo and Shinra just stuck to the back of the room going over homework that they did not do last night.

"Shizuo what is it?" asked Erika as she walked over to them.

"It?" questioned the blonde.

She turned her attention to the sleeping fox under Shizuo's desk. Before they had arrived at the school they had Izaya mask the number of tails he had by having them group together to make it seem like he only had two really bushy tails. Little was known about Kistune and they did not want Izaya to become an experiment like Celty had become.

The blonde shrugged not wanting everyone to know that Izaya was a kitsune, "He just a low level youkai I found last night. Don't know what he is"

Some more girls came over and cooed over how cute the fox was, wanting to hold him and pet him. But Shizuo didn't let any of them, afraid they would cause more harm to Izaya's wounds. They guys in the class made fun of Shizuo for getting a weak youkai but he just ignored them.

After a few moments Shiki walked into the classroom causing all of the students to quiet down and rush back to their seats. But it was a surprise that he also brought in his two oni partners.

By lunch time they had already completed the math and writing portions of the day. Shizuo was already groaning about the amount of homework that they had while Izaya slept at his feet not caring about his partner's struggles. Shinra, Shizuo and their partners went to have lunch in the cafeteria today because of the rain outside. Normally the roof was the favorite break spot for the small group.

"Hey Heiwajima, what kind of youkai do you call that? That looks like a pet dog" laughed a familiar red headed boy.

He had baggy clothes and jeans that hung below his waist in an attempt to be cool. His youkia partner was a troll looking being that was the size of a large man and green skinned. The boy also put sunglasses on his partner to make it look similar to his style.

The boy was also accompanied by the same two boys from earlier, in similar apparel as well as their youkai who all seemed to be related or at least form the same clan. But instead of green skinned one was purple and the other orange and wearing sunglasses to look like their partners.

"Leave me alone Haru." growled Shizuo as he drank his milk.

Shinra and Celty could sense the irritation from their friend and where ready to jump in if needed. Shizuo was known to cause a lot of damage but with Shiki's threat hanging over them they did not want their friend getting into trouble. The irritation from the blonde caused the sleeping fox to wake up and look around at the gathering group. Realizing that something might happen and turn violent the fox jumped into his partner's lab trying to calm the blonde down so they did not get into trouble.

Shizuo jumped at the sudden weight on his legs and turned down to smile at the fox and patted his head in thanks before returning to his meal and ignoring the three boys. Shinra and Celty relaxed knowing that their friend came back to his senses.

Not happy with being ignored like that Hogo reached over and snatched Izaya by the tail causing the fox to yelp in pain as he was held upside down by the appendage. Not liking this postion at all the fox tried scratch and bite at the boy to get himself released.

Shizuo and Shinra both jumped up at this. Celty already had a scythe of shadows out ready to fight off the three trolls if they attacked.

"Put him down Hogo" growled Shizuo as he cracked his knuckles in anger.

The boy in question just laughed before he handed the Kistune over to the third friend Nira who shook the wounded animal a little to cause another whimper.

This just caused Shizuo to grow angrier as he lifted up the table ready to throw it at his classmate.

"Now now, Shizuo I would not do that if I were you" said Haru, as he flicked his black hair out of his face while he nodded to his friend who passed Izaya off to his youkai partner.

The green troll could fit the fox in his hand easily and began to squeeze slowly. Whispers began to fill the cafeteria as everyone grew quiet at the scene. Knowing that throwing the table was not going to help Shizuo dropped it loudly on the ground.

"So is this the way that you can be tamed? Is through a baby dog" laughed the group of boys.

Shinra stepped forward, "Come now Nira you know that we can't fight in school. It is against the rules"

"I doubt this mutt could fight anyway." Sneered the teen as the troll tightened his grip on the fox.

Izaya growled and snapped his canines at the boys making them jump back a little bit.

"I give fox permission to fight you yes?" asked a deep voice from the doorway of the cafeteria.

Surprised all of the students turned to see a large man smiling at all of them. He was huge. He was an exchange teacher from Russia who specializes in combat.

"Professor Simon" exclaimed Shinra in surprise.

"Students hello. Now partner to Shizuo." Said the dark skinned man, looking at the fox held in the trolls grip, "why you no show us your strength? No worry about punishment, I say ok" he smiled as he walked to stand next to Shizuo.

Nira and his friends looked uncertain as the fox seemed to nod at the black man. The next moment the troll holding Izaya screeched in pain as he dropped the black fox. Taking this advantage Izaya chomped down on the trolls leg with his sharp teeth causing the troll to jump away in surprise. Then Izaya scampered away ready to fight.

"Grab it" yelled Haru annoyed as the other two trolls reached for the fox.

Enraged Shizuo was about to step in but stopped when Simon put a restraining hand on his shoulder. Shizuo glared at the man, annoyed that he had to watch his injured partner fight by himself. Izaya turned his attention to his attackers and growled showing his fangs. The two trolls clench their fists as they readied to attack.

The kitsune dodged the punches gracefully. He chomped down on the orange trolls hand and it screech in pain and flung the small fox off of him. Sending Izaya into the wall with a yelp.

"Professor Simon! You must stop them Shizuo's partner is already injured" pleaded Shinra not wanting to have to bandage up the fox later.

"Yes see I. Small fox no worry about damage. Fight true" said Simon to the kitsune.

Shizuo turned to his teacher in confusion, "What do you mean? He is already fighting"

Simon just smiled at his student, "Oh Shizuo. More to your partner there is"

Still confused Shizuo turned his attention back to the fight. He was surprised to see a change in attitude from his partner. It seemed that Simon's words meant something.

Izaya jumped at the troll who dodged placing the fox in between the students and the trolls. Raising his tails, still keeping them together in two clumps to as to not alert anyone to his strength, the kitsune growled as he readied himself in a ready stance. A second later small balls of fire appeared on the tips of Izaya's tails and he threw them at the two trolls. Buring them in the arms as they protected their faces. With their arms up Izaya jumped at the purple troll hitting it into the wall and knocking it out. Leaving just the orange troll left. Ruby eyes shifted to his last opponent.

The orange troll roared in rage and charged at the small fox. Izaya jumped away and forming a fire ball around his paw he jumped at the troll hitting him in the face with the fire knocking it unconscious as well.

"Well done small fox" Simon clapped as the three boys ran to their beaten and knocked out partners.

The fox in question slowly walked over to the group and when Shizuo knelt down to him Izaya jumped into his arms heavily.

"You ok?" Shizuo asked worried about his old injuries.

In response Izaya let out a low whine as he snuggled his head into Shizuo's chest.

"Strong partner you have Shizuo." Said Simon clapping the blond on his shoulder.

Shizuo nodded as he watched Izaya fall asleep in his arms. All Izaya seemed to be doing today was sleeping. He would need to ask Shinra about that, or Celty.

At that moment the bell signaling lunch ending went off and everyone made their way back to class. Shizuo had tried to take Izaya to the school nurse but Shiki said that they should not have been fighting so he had to stay in class. Luckily Simon informed Shiki of his giving permission to the kitsune to fight or Shiki would have already taken the tired fox from Shizuo.

For the rest of the day Izaya slept in Shizuo's lap trying to regain his energy and heal himself. Shiki did not have them doing partner training today so Izaya did not have to fight anymore, which made Shizuo very relieved. The kitsune did not need any more stress on his injuries.

Shizuo decided he should go home after school sense he had stayed at Shinra's last night, but promised he would come over later. After all they needed to see if Izaya got anymore injuries from this last fight. It was Friday so the friends could pull an all-nighter playing video games if they wanted to while avoiding the homework that had been piled on throughout the day.

 **I tried to make this longer to make up for the wait.**

 **Also, sorry I am really, really bad at fight scenes. But I will try to get better at it.**

 **I did not get much time to check for spelling or grammar, finals are in a week and work upped my hours, so I hope it did not distract from the story.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello everyone! First off thank you for all the great reviews am so excited that you all enjoy this story.**

 **Quick note, just encase there is confusion: None of the students know what a kitsune looks like which is why they don't treat Izaya or Shizuo poorly. Only the hunters know, researchers do not even know, what Izaya is. And don't worry I will be giving a back story as to why Kistune are not liked. Not in this chapter but the next one.**

 **ok now on to the story! Enjoy!**

Shizuo stood outside the two story house and took a deep breath before pushing the gate and walking up the cobble stone path to the door.

"I'm home" he called as he slipped off his shoes.

He heard the sound of rushing feet followed a moment later by his small mother coming around the corner with a big smile. She was a small woman in comparison to her oldest son. She had long brown hair that she had tied back into a braid and her apron had flower on it from whatever she had been baking.

"Welcome home dear! Where were you last night? I was so worried" she asked after giving him a quick hug that he returned awkwardly while trying to prevent Izaya from being crushed.

He scratched the back of his head, "Well you see…" He brought the sleeping fox for his mother to see, "I got a partner last night and Shinra was helping me look after him."

His mother squealed in delight "He is adorable!" she said admiring the small fox.

"I am so happy for you. Now you can become a hunter like you have wanted" She said happily as she led him into the kitchen to feed him his after school snack.

Shizuo nodded while also smiling, "Yeah, turns out this little guy is very strong so it should be pretty easy to rise in the ranks"

"That would be wonderful. Next time though honey please call me. I was so worried" she said placing a sandwich in front of him, "Luckily I called the school and they let me know you showed up".

"Sorry mom. I will call next time I promise" he said with a guilty look, he did not mean to worry his mom.

The fake blonde placed Izaya on his lap and ate the sandwich, "Where is Kasuka?"

"Oh he is out with Ruri getting me some groceries" she replied washing some dishes.

He brother had made a partnership with Ruri last year when he met the fairy in the back yard one night. They made a perfect pair, both silent and emotionless. Some of Kasuka's talent scouts have even started to look at Ruri for acting roles in some of his movies.

"Oh what does your youkai eat?" she asked concerned she would have no food for it.

Shizuo thought about it for a moment, he was currently in a fox form so probably fox food. But if he was in his normal form probably human food.

"Any meat I think. When he changes back to his regular form you can ask him" said Shizuo shrugging.

His mother just nodded with a smile as her son rose and made his way to his room. Upstairs he placed the still sleeping fox on the bed and then put his books on the desk and changed out of his school uniform. Turning back to the fox he saw that he had moved so that his tails surrounded himself like a cloak. Shizuo smiled slightly as he remembered that the fox did that back at Shinra's and it made the fox look so cute.

Shizuo looked at the clock and noticed that it read three in the afternoon. Izaya had fallen asleep after lunch time around noon and had yet to wake back up. Concerned for how long Izaya had been asleep Shizuo sat down on the bed. He started to pet the fox's head and he smiled when the youkai uncurled itself while Shizuo moved to scratch his back. He almost let out a laugh when Izaya shifted on his back so that Shizuo could scratch his stomach.

"Hey Izaya" he called softly still continuing to scratch the fox.

He chuckled when the fox's ears twitched slightly, "Time to wake up" he tried again still trying not to laugh at the fox's antics.

This time Izaya yawned cutely and looked over to the blond. It's small red eyes widened in surprise before he flipped back over and moved away slightly. He had not been expecting to be woken by Shizuo with a belly rub.

"How are you feeling?" asked the blonde as he moved over to his desk and placed his homework in the middle so he would remember to do it.

The black fox gave a nodded followed by another yawn before he carefully stretched himself and sat on the bed looking tired still. Izaya's glided over the room, almost analyzing everything that his new partner owned.

"It looks like your broken bones are healed" noticed Shizuo and again he received another nod once the kitsune brought his attention back to the fake blonde.

Shizuo frowned slightly when he saw that his blue comforter was now covered in a light brown substance where the fox had been sleeping.

"I think you need a bath" stated the blonde, he was surprised when the fox did not oppose and simply jumped into his arms.

He walked into his joint bathroom and filled up the bath tub with warm water. While he grabbed out towels and shampoo for the fox Izaya brought his paws up to the rim of the tub to watch the water fill. Once it was half filled Shizuo turned off the water and picked up the still tired kitsune and placed him in the tub.

"You must be really tired" chuckled Shizuo when the fox just let him wash him.

He was not expecting the kitsune to be this docile especially after their first meeting in the forest. Izaya had seemed like the person to be very prideful and Shizuo was not really looking all that forward to their partnership. But it seemed that the kitsune would be a good partner.

Once he deemed Izaya washed Shizuo plucked him out of the water but before he could get a towel to dry him off the fox shook himself sending water all over the blonde. Shizuo groaned in annoyance at getting his clothes wet and he looked to the fox and saw it give him a smirk before it ran out of the bathroom. It seems like he is getting better, though the blonde as he cleaned up the bathroom.

He made his way back to his bedroom and stopped in the door way. The kitsune was walking around his room smelling everything. It was almost cute how it got on his hind legs to look at the top of his desk and dresser. Shizuo chuckled when it tried smelling his jacket and it fell over the small fox. It yelped in surprise and started turning in circles trying to get it off.

Shizuo laughed as he pulled the jacket off of the surprise kitsune. Izaya gave another surprised yelp at seeing the blonde and he quickly turned and jumped on the bed getting comfortable while he watched Shizuo hang up the jacket again.

"All right Izaya are you're ready to go to Shinra's?" he asked once he was ready to leave.

The kitsune gave a happy bark and jumped off the bed and followed Shizuo out of the house. After saying goodbye to his mom they walked across the town to the brunette's apartment. During the walk Shizuo noticed that the hunters of the town would stop what they were doing and stare that two companions. It seemed that word had spread about his partnership and that Shiki's warning about Kitsune not being liked was true.

Four men with the arm band of the Hunter's Organization walked towards them and Shizuo instantly grew nervous. It seemed these men did not have their youkai partners with them but they were still slightly intimidating.

"You Heiwajima?" growled one of the men as they blocked the path for Shizuo.

"Who is asking?" he said coldly in reply.

Another of the men stepped slightly forward, he had an eye patch and a lot of other scars on his body, "You should watch yourself brat. Kitsune are not welcomed here. They only bring trouble. You best remember that"

Shizuo rolled his eyes at the men, yes he had been informed of this before. Now he was just getting annoyed with all of the threats.

One man with red hair glared at the disrespect from the boy, "You need to respect your elder's kid."

The hunter in training just ignored them and shoved past the men, they were not going to start a fight with a kid, and continued on his way to Shinra's. The man with the eye patch growled again and looked down to see the kitsune walking next to the blonde. With an evil smile the man swiftly brought his foot into contact with the fox sending it flying a few feet in front of Shizuo down the sidewalk.

The group of men laughed as the kitsune slowly got back up. Shizuo whipped around ready to punch his elder's in the face but stopped when Izaya let out a bark. The blonde turned to look at his partner and saw the same firey look that had caused Shizuo to make a partnership with the fox in the first place. With a huff he turned back to the adults and gave them a dark glare before turning back down the street.

The four men looked at each other slightly surprised. Shizuo Heiwajima was known for his super strength and they all had gotten slightly scared when he was about to punch them. Lesson learned, only mess with the kitsune when Shizuo was not around.

The rest of the walk had little incident instead the hunters glared from a distance. Shizuo glanced at his partner surprised to see that the fox was matching each glare with his own. The blonde gave a soft chuckle, this fox sure was gutsy.

They reached the apartments a few minutes later, "Hello Shizuo" greeted the brunette.

"Hey Shinra" greeted the blonde while Izaya swiftly entered the apartment and jumped on the couch next to Celty.

Shinra smiled down at the black fox, "How are you doing after that fight at school?"

Izaya curled up on the couch and rested his head on his paws, he was tired.

 _"He says that he used more energy than he should have"_ read Celty's PDA as she got up to make some tea for their guests.

"Understandable, you were still pretty injured after all" nodded Shinra as he adjusted his glasses.

Shizuo left Shinra to examine Izaya while he went to help Celty in the kitchen. A few minutes later they came back into the room to see the fox on the couch and Shinra sitting on the couch opposite Izaya and talking about a bunch of nonsense things.

 _"So Izaya when are you going to change back?"_ asked Celty after she sat down next to Shinra and Shizou next to Izaya.

The kitsune gave a soft bark in response as he sniffed the tea in Shizuo's cup.

"What did he say?" asked Shinra as finally stopped his once sided conversation when Izaya barked.

 _"He can change back whenever he wants to. But he is trying to preserve energy and heal his wounds"_

"Hmm. Izaya could I take a look at your injuries? I might be able to help but not when you are in that form." asked the doctor.

The black fox slowly stretched before giving a nod. Then a wall of smoke enveloped his small body and steadily grew causing Shizuo to jump from his seat coughing.

"What happened?" asked Shizuo as he coughed on the smoke.

 _"Izaya has changed back"_ read Celty's PDA as she calmly sat in her seat.

Once the smoke cleared Shizuo saw the man that he met in the forest only yesterday. The raven haired man was laying on the couch, his red eyes glaring at the trio.

"I would appreciate if we could make this quick. This form is painful" he growled as he slowly sat up.

Shinra quickly jumped into doctor mode by grabbing bandages and starting to inspect the kitsuen's injuries.

"How do you feel?" asked the doctor as he checked the healing bones.

The raven haired youkai hissed slightly at the pain, "Better. My fox form helps with healing. My bones are almost healed and I only have bruised ribs now and other minor injuries"

Shizuo let out a sigh of relief, he was worried his new partner was seriously hurt after the fight at school and the kick from that hunter.

"I think that you should continue to use your fox form when out in public even when you are healed. That way you could avoid any unwelcomed attention" stated the doctor once he finished checking all of the wounds and giving Izaya a few pain relievers.

Izaya flicked his tails lazily, "I would have to agree with you on that"

"What were you doing in those woods?" asked Shizuo happy that he could now talk to the youkai about last night.

The kitsune gave a small smirk, "Wouldn't you like to know Shizu-chan" he chuckled.

The blonde felt a vein pop in his head, "What the hell? Why are you calling me that? It's Shizuo" he growled.

Izaya just laughed "Oh what a fun response Shizu-chan. I like this name for you"

Shizuo jumped up from his seat and grabbed his partner by the ear like a disobedient child, "No you won't. My name is Shizuo"

All he got as a reply was just laughter. Fear of a fight about to break out Shinra quickly tried to think of something stop them.

"What did you do make the clan mad at you?" he asked in hopes it would attract their attention.

Luckily Shizuo let his anger die down wanting to also know the answer, "They did not like the information I provided to their leader." Sighed the youkai as he rubbed his ear.

"Why would you know the information they wanted?" asked Shizuo wanting to know more about his new partner.

"Oh Shizu-chan do you know nothing of the youkai world" he laughed.

The Kistune only received blank looks from the two humans. Shinra turned to Celty in hopes she knew what Izaya was talking about.

 _"Kitsune are like information brokers in the youkai world. They are able to gather information that no one else is able to get."_ Typed Celty, she did not really like the business that Kitsune deal in because it was dirty and mostly lead to trouble.

"So you sell information?" asked Shizuo not really understanding.

Izaya laughed at his partner, "I do more than sell information. I gather it and I know more about the youkai world than any other youkai. Information is a powerful thing depending on who knows what"

Shinra thought about this for a moment before something clicked, "Wait so you know stuff on all the clans. That could be really helpful for the hunter organization"

The kitsune just smirked, "Now what would I get out of doing that? I see no benefit in giving them information freely" he laughed.

Shizuo growled, "That information could help us to defeat the youkai! You selfish louse"

The smirk never leaving his face, "I have been called worse Shizu-chan."

Without replying Shizuo grabbed his partner by the back of his shirt and threw him into the wall. Expecting the attack Izaya was able to brace himself against the wall and not get hurt.

"You could almost be a monster Shizu-chan, that strength of yours rivals most youkai" he chuckled as he righted himself his tails flicking around in excitement.

Just as Shizuo was about to throw a punch at the youkai the front door to the apartment opened. A man in a white coat and gas masked walked in holding a plastic bag.

"Oh my! Hello Shizuo" greeted the man as he placed the groceries on the counter.

Shizuo righted himself, taught by his mother to have proper manners, "Good evening Mr. Kishitana."

"Are you boys wanting some dinner?" The man looked around the living room and then he noticed the extra person in the room that he has never seen before.

His frame went rigid when he saw that it was a youkai standing behind Shizuo and it was a kitsune, "Shizuo! Step away from that youkai" he ordered urgently as he grabbed the surprised blonde by the arm to place him next to Shinra.

"Wait dad" yelled Shinra as he saw his dad pull out the dart gun from his pocket.

But the masked man had already fired the dart at the unsuspecting kitsune hitting Izaya square in the chest.

"Izaya!" Yelled Shizuo in concern as the raven haired man fell to his knees after ripping the dart from his chest.

The blond was quickly at his side while Shinra started yelling at his dad for knocking out guests.

"S-Shizu-Chan" stuttered Izaya as his vision started to go black.

"Don't worry you will wake up in a few hours" soothed the blonde to the sleepy fox.

Within seconds Izaya was fast asleep and Shizuo picked him up in his arms and laid him on the couch.

"Dad! Izaya is Shizuo's partner. What the hell are you doing drugging him like that?" yelled Shinra.

The masked man placed his dart gun back in his pocket, "I did not realize that Shizuo had made a partnership with a Kistune." He said unapologetic as he went to his office.

 _"I am so sorry Shizuo. You know how Shinra's dad is"_ said Celty through her PDA as Shizuo sat down beside the slumbering fox.

Shinra's dad is a head researcher in the town. He had done many experiments on Celty years ago they were all well aware of how crazy the scientist could be sometimes. Shizuo was just happy is was a sedative that he used and not something worse. He had also been prone to a lot of experiments as a kid because of his strength. That was where he had met Celty and they had started their friendship.

"Don't worry Celty" reassured Shizuo as he turned his attention to his friend, "I am not mad sense Izaya is ok."

Shinra plopped down on the couch across from Shizuo still upset about how his dad acted, "I am sorry Shizuo. The man is a quack"

Shizuo just laughed and turned on the TV. The trio watched a program about the new hunters test for a few moments before Shizuo felt something strange around his waist. Looking down he saw that a few of Izaya's tails had wrapped around him in his sleep.

"I would not have expected that with the way he was acting earlier" chuckled Shinra as he looked at the sleeping Kistune.

Shizuo carded his hand through his hair afraid to touch the tails by accident, "He has been all over me today when he sleeps, almost like an annoying flee" he grumbled.

 _"Kistune are very affectionate creatures. So with your new bond he probably feels the need to rely on you for safety while he sleeps. With him touching you he knows where you are"_ said Celty also slightly amazed at Izaya's actions in sleep.

Shinra instantly praised Celty for her knowledge of youkai while Shizuo carefully pet the soft tails. After settling down a little they went back to watching the program. After the show Shinra and Shizuo and begun playing the new racing video game that had just come out in stores. An hour into the games they heard a slight groan. Pressing paus Shizuo turned his attention to his kitsune partner that was slowly waking up. Ruby eyes slowly opened.

"Oi, you awake?" asked Shizuo.

With another groan Izaya sat up holding his head, "What was in that dart? My head is killing me"

Shinra gave a small chuckle, "Just a sedative, my dad always keeps one on him because he works in the research department with the youkai"

"Ugh" groaned Izaya still rubbing his head.

At that moment Shinra's dad made a reappearance, "A seven tailed Kitsune! You are the one that Shiki and his men ran into last night." He exclaimed happily holding a phone in his hand.

He had been spending the last four hours trying to figure out where the kitsune had come from and why he was in his apartment and he finally got in touch with one of the men that was in the clearing last night.

"Yes dad. He is Shizuo's partner so you can't experiment on him" said Shinra annoyed.

Celty seemed to shift behind her partner as the masked man moved into the room more. She did not like the scientist for obvious reasons, being held prisoner while he cut into you was not a pleastent feeling.

The scientist just waved his hand dismissively not really listening to his son as he walked over to the still disoriented youkai on the couch. The man had grabbed one of the soft fox ears roughly causing Izaya to yelp and then snarl at the man. But he seem unconcerned with the kitsune's dislike as the scientist pulled up his shirt. Before the scientist could use the scalpel he had hidden in his sleeve to cut open the youkai Izaya flipped off the couch next to Shizuo's side with his arms crossed.

"I would appreciate it if you would not touch me" snarled Izaya as his tails twitched dangerously.

Shizuo stepped in between his mad partner and the crazed scientist, "Mr. Kishitana, Izaya is my partner. I will report you to the board if you do something like that again" he growled not happy with the treatment that Izaya received.

Shinra's dad just laughed for a few minutes, "You must be crazy if you think once the word gets out that the board is not going to want to examine him. This is the first kitsune ever in our town. You are lucky Shiki let you make a partnership with its bad reputation"

A vein popped in Shizuo's head, "We are leaving. Good night Shinra" he growled as he grabbed Izaya by the arm and dragged him through the front door.

Once outside the building Shizuo dragged his partner over to an ally trying not to be seen by all of the people out on a Friday night.

"Did he inject you with anything?" asked Shizuo as he looked for any puncture wound or scratches on the Kistune.

Izaya gently pushed him away with a laugh, "Do not worry that creepy man did nothing but grab my ear."

Shizuo sighed in relief as he ran his hand through his blonde hair. Izaya rubbed his sore ear while he waited for his blonde companion to calm down.

"That man is crazy, you should try to avoid him" said the blond after a few long minutes.

"Thanks Shizu-chan but don't worry I already figured that out" he said with a wink and smirk knowing it would irritate the man.

Trying to refrain from punching the youkai he let out a deep breath, "Fine. Turn back into a fox so we can go home. Tomorrow we will practice fighting together"

Izaya smirked again before a small cloud of smoke engulfed him and then a small fox jumped into Shizuo's chest. Tucking the animal into his jacket so they did not have any problems on the way home, and made their way home.

 **The next update should be Friday, Satruday at the latest. Have a great week everyone!**


	6. Chapter 6

**So sorry about the delayed update. My internet died for three days :( stupid roommates not paying their portion of the bill on time. Ugh.**

 **But here is the newest chapter, it is kinda short but I will try to make a better chapter next time. Thank you to all the reviews!**

 **I own nothing.**

"Welcome home brother" came the monotone voice as Shizuo walked through the door.

Shizuo smiled at his little brother as he slipped off his shoes, "Hey there Kasuka. Where is Ruri?" asked the blonde seeing the lack of a fairy.

"She is getting some drinks with mother in the kitchen" said Kasuka not looking up from his book.

Shizuo just hummed in response as he sat on the couch next to his brother. He almost forgot about the fox in his coat until a small head poked out of the jacket.

"Is this your new partner that I have heard about?" asked the younger Heiwajima as he placed his book down.

Shizuo nodded as pulled Izaya out of his jacket. The black fox walked around the room looking at everything while the brother's watched him. Kasuka seemed confused slightly by the small youkai but his emotionless face did not show it.

"Izaya change back and meet my brother" said Shizuo once it seemed Izaya was satisfied with the room.

A second later and a little bit of smoke Izaya was sitting on the couch with a slight grin, "Good evening I am Izaya" he greeted the raven haired man.

"It is nice to meet you Izaya I am Kasuka, Shizuo's little brother" nodded the brunette as he observed the new youkai, "Are you the kitsune that everyone is talking about?"

Shizuo was instantly concerned, "What do you mean everyone?"

His unemotional brother just resumed reading, "Kids told their parents about the fight today at lunch. A lot of their parents are hunters and figured out what kind of youkai was involved in the fight. I can only assume that Izaya is that youkai given the limited information that I have on kitsune matches what I am seeing"

Izaya's smirk appeared on his face, "I am glad that a least one of you boys got some brains. It seems Shizu-chan got a small amount" he chuckled as the blonde glared at him.

"Welcome home Shizuo" called his mother as she walked in with a tray of snack unaware of the potential fight she interrupted.

Behind her was a small girl with long black hair. She had an emotionless face, similar to Kasuka, and transparent wings that fluttered behind her while she carried in a tray of drinks.

"Hey mom. This is Izaya." He greeted gesturing to the Kistune, "Izaya this is my mom and Ruri. Ruri is Kasuka's partner" he finished the introductions.

Izaya gave them a wonderful smile, "It is a pleasure to meet you"

"Hello Izaya" came the emotionless greeting form the fairy.

Shizuo mother quickly put the tray of treats down and grabbed the kitsune into a hug, Izaya was not expecting that, "It is so nice to meet you Izaya. You are so cute as a little fox" she squealed.

The youkai gave a shaky chuckle as he disentangled himself from the friendly woman. Shizuo tried to not laugh at his partner's surprised face. His mom was an overly affectionate person she seemed to be that way to make up for her two sons who did not really express themselves well.

"Please sit and tell us about yourself" encouraged the nice woman.

Izaya hesitantly sat down and then became slightly uncomfortable with all of the eyes locked on to him. He is normally used to messing with people behind the scenes while he gathered information and not a lot of attention on himself.

"There is not really much to tell. I met Shizu-chan in the woods and we are now partners" he stated not wanting to tell them anymore information.

Shizuo seemed to sense this because he easily shifted the conversation to his brother's new movie and the others go the hint as well. The rest of the night was spent in relative ease while the family tried to figure out how to act around the mysterious kitsune.

"Izaya you can stay in Shizuo's room for now. I need to clean out the spare room and then we can put you in there" smiled Shizuo's mother as she gathered the dishes to take to the kitchen.

The kitsune nodded and everyone made their way to their respective rooms. Shizuo was startled when turned to face his partner after shutting the door and saw him trying to make his way out of the bedroom window.

"Izaya! What are you doing?" asked the blonde confused.

Giving a chuckle the youkai turned to smirk at him, "I will see you in the morning Shizu-chan. There is no way I am sharing a room with a Neanderthal like you" with that he jumped from the window.

By the time Shizuo made it to the open window the kitsune was already gone and blending into the darkness of the night. With an annoyed sigh he shut the window without locking it and got ready for bed. Not his fault if the stupid fox got in trouble.

(With Izaya)

The streets were empty as the sly fox meandered around. The moon was full and provided an amble amount of light as he looked through shop windows.

"Where is your leash pest?" came a low growl.

With a smirk Izaya turned to face the red skinned oni, "I was waiting for you Akabyashi. Is Shiki with you?"

Said man made his presence known dressed in white and a glare on his scarred face.

"Tell me why I should not kill you right now fox?" he questioned not all all pleased with the way the kitsune smirked at him.

"I go the information you wanted of course! But I require a different payment than normal" stated Izaya as he held up a small folder with documents in it.

Shiki was slightly surprised by the fact that the informant was able to gather the Intel that fast. Normally he would have to wait at least a week.

"What would this payment be?" he asked now extremely interested in those documents, but his face remained stoic as he dealt with the sneaky fox.

Izaya's smirk grew, "Stop interfering" was all he said as he tossed the folder to the white clad man.

Even with the vague demand Shiki instantly knew what the kistune was talking about and he was not pleased. There was no way that Izaya would be able to know about his interference. The a dark glared he opened the file to confirm the documents before turning and walking back to where he came from leaving the Kitsune with a smug look on his face.

"Humans are so much fun!" laughed the kistune before he turned back down the sidewalk and continued on his stroll through the empty streets.

(the next morning)

Shizuo was surprised to already see Izaya up and about when he woke up the next morning. His brother and Ruri had already left for a meeting and his mother was at work. So it was just the youkai and the hunter in training left in the house.

"Hey" greeted the blonde gruffly as he grabbed a glass of milk.

Izaya looked up from the newspaper that he was reading, "Good morning Shizu-chan" he greeted with a grin.

Stupid nick name.

"Hurry up and get ready. We will go practice" replied Shizuo once he finished drinking his milk and going back upstairs to change.

In thirty minutes the partners were out the door with Izaya tucked away in Shizuo's jacket as they made their way to the training fields.

The training field were on the school ground but open for use at any time during the week. Luckily no one else was around when they arrived. The fields were just that, an open field. Students are allowed to bring any props they want to practice with because there are no materials provided.

Shizuo walked out to the middle of the field before opening his jacket to let the small fox out. Izaya quickly changed back before they turned to face each other.

"ok Shizu-chan, what do you want to do for practice?" Asked the fox as he stretched his back.

Izaya may not like the blonde but he is aware that they do need to learn to fight together so that they can compete in the school.

Shizuo sat down on the grass cross legged before looking up to his partner, "I think today we should just talk"

Confused the kitsune sat down as well, "Talk about what?"

The fake blonde pulled out a pair of sunglasses from his jacket pocket and put them on, "Let's talk about our pasts. We just learned in school that past experiences shape the kind of people that we are"

Izaya had to refrain from laughing at this. There was no way he was going to tell this human about his past. That was guarded information and would cost a lot more than the student could afford.

"Very interesting. Why don't you start then Shizu-chan?" chuckled the fox.

Shizuo gave a long sigh but nodded, "Alright. Hmm where should I start?"

 **What you think? We will be learning about Shizuo next chapter:)**

 **Ok so next week is finals mine are Mon and Tues. then spring break. I don't know when I will be able to update next cause I will be back home with my parents. But I will try to update next week but if I don't I will update the first week of the new quarter! Thank you so much for enjoying this story!**


	7. Chapter 7

**I am so sorry for how long it has been. It was a longer recovery than I thought for my wisdom teeth.**

 **This chapter is short because I did not get much time to work on it during the recovery. But the next one will be longer.**

 **I own nothing.**

 **FLASHBACK**

 _Shizuo was seven years old when he was taken to the laboratory to be tested on. His parents turned him over to the scientists in hopes of controlling or getting rid of the strength. They began to fear for their youngest son, Kasuka, after Shizuo had picked up a refrigerator to throw at him in a fit of rage. Luckily for everyone Shizuo had only broken his arm in that situation._

 _Shizuo was not mad with his parents for sending him to the labs. He was also afraid of the strength that he held._

 _The doctors had tried to max out his strength to see just how strong he could be. But there was no limit. No matter what the adrenaline in Shizuo's body allowed him the ability to continually get stronger. Dr. Kishitani finally came to the conclusion that Shiuzo's body did not contain the natural limiters that other humans had. So the study changed from how to get rid of the strength in the child's body but to how they could harness it and change it into something that they could use._

 _The seven year old ended up spending the next four years in those labs. Dr. Kishitani had done any experiment you could think of on the child, bone marrow testing, lobotomy, vivisection and other more inhumane experiments._

 _"Shizuo today we will be doing another test on your strength" stated a man in a gas mask as he walked into the plain white room._

 _The man said this every morning. They had always come up with a new experiment to try on the young boy. Somehow they have never repeated one either. One day though the situation changed. They brought in another person. Well kind of a person._

 _"This is Celty. I want you to fight her"_

 _The woman in the black suit quickly pulled out a PDA and thrusted it into the masked man's face._

 _Dr. Kishitani just laughed at whatever she had written and walked out of the room without answering or further instruction._

 _Confused but still not really caring about the situation Shizuo stared at the headless woman. When she seemed to be over some inner conflict she typed quickly on her PDA and showed it to Shizuo._

 _ **Hello I am Celty. You are Shizuo correct?**_

 **** _The brunette nodded, "Yeah. Nice to meet you. So what are you?"_

 _Her shoulders shook in what looked like she was laughing,_ _ **I am a dullahan. I was looking for something that I lost when I was captured and brought here.**_

 _Shizuo seemed to think on this for a second, "I am guessing you lost your head right?"_

 _ **Yep. Why are you here? This does not seem to be a place for a human child**_

 **** _"Got some super strength they are testing" stated the child._

 _Just then Celty remembered the fact that she was supposed to be fighting this boy. But she knew there was no way she could do that. Even though she is a youkai that does not mean she will just kill human's out right for no reason._

 _Before she could voice this opinion Shizuo sat down on the floor, "I am not fighting you. We should be friends instead"_

 _From that day on the two were the best of friends. The beacons in the darkness of the laboratory that they were prisoners in. They would continue to be tested on for another year before Shizuo managed to break Celty and himself out and they had told the love crazed Shinra to form a pact with Celty before they could do more harm to her. It did not take much to convince the bespectacled boy. A few months later they were all enrolled in Raira Academy. Shizuo was back at home with his family who had missed him greatly and Celty was now living with Shinra._

 **PRESENT**

By the time that Shizuo finished his story it was early afternoon. Izaya was laying on the grass soaking up the sun while he listened to the tale.

"So your parents sent you to that place in hopes of you being normal and instead you have become a monster instead. That is just so wonderful" laughed the informant, he found the blonde's misery very entertaining.

He quickly rolled to the side to avoid a punch to the face, "shut up fox." Came the growl.

The kistune continued to snicker but did not comment anymore. Slowly Izaya climbed to his feet and stretched much like a cat would before turning back to his partner.

"Ready to begin training Shizu-chan?"

Shizuo also rose, "Are you not going to tell me about yourself?"

Playful red eyes connected to his, "Nope. I don't give away information freely"

A vein popped on his forhead but the blonde did not move to his the annoying fox, "how about this, we have a match if I win you tell me something about you. Not something stupid."

Izaya seemed to think on this, he always loved to play games, "I don't see what would make this any fun for me"

Shizuo thought about this for a moment as well, "I can get you a weapon that you can use."

Confused by this answer Izaya just tilted his head to the side showing to Shizuo he did not understand.

Giving a sigh Shizuo explained, "When I attacked you at Shinra's instead of using your yoki you had instead looked like you were reaching in your sleeve for something. So I can only assume that you had a weapon on you at one point that you use a lot and use that before having to resort to yoki."

Izaya stared at the blonde in surprise. He had thought the monster was an idiot, turns out Shizu-chan is more perceptive than he first thought.

Quickly he turned his surprised face into his normal smirk, "You are correct Shizu-chan. Ok I will take your offer. When I win I get a weapon. If you somehow win I will tell you something about myself."

Shizuo nodded, glad that he was able to get the kitsune to agree. They really needed to work on their partnership and this was the first idea he had.

 **Like I said earlier sorry for how short this was. But I hope you enjoyed it!**

 **And thank you everyone for all of your wonderful reviews.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hello again everyone!**

 **I realized that I never really explained what everyone was wearing in this. So Izaya is wearing his normal fur trimmed coat with his black v-neck shirt and pants. Shizuo wears his blue high school uniform when at school but other wise his black pants and white shirt. Shinra is in his lab coat. Everyone else wears their normal clothes from the show.**

 **Please keep the reviews coming, I love to read them :)**

 **I own nothing.**

"What kind of weapon do you normally use?" asked Shizuo calmly as he stood up to stretch.

Izaya rose as well and dusted off his fur trimmed jacket, "That would be free information Shizu-chan. But I can tell you if you beat me" he smirked.

Annoyed Shizuo pulled back his fist ready to hit the kitsune in the face but before he could make contact Izaya easily dogged to the side with his smirk still in place.

"Stay still you annoying jerk. I want to hit you!" exclaimed the blonde in rage.

Izaya laughed in response as he skipped around the practice field. Still annoyed Shizuo chased after him as he continued to try and hit the lithe kitsune. This continued for a few minutes until Shizuo ripped up a tree from ground and got ready to throw it at the running kitsune.

"Wait Shizuo!" called a voice.

Startled the blonde dropped the tree in mid throw causing it fall short of its intended target. He turned around to see Shinra and Celty running onto the practice field.

"What's up?" asked blonde concerned about the look on Shinra's face.

Shinra made it to Shizuo shortly but was still breating heavily from the small run, "Sh-shizuo (gasp) we need (gasp) to-"

"Celty what is Shinra trying to say?" asked Izaya as he walked over to the group amused at the human who was clearly out of shape.

Shinra nodded in agreement to having the dullahan explain and she quickly pulled out her phone, _"There is a group of youkai attacking and we need to go report to the school to help with the evacuation!"_

Nodding in agreement Celty used her shadows to make a motorcycle that could accommodate them. Izaya shifted into his fox form to help with the space.

Right when they made it to the school Erika came running up to them with her youkai partner Walker, who is a ghost, "Hey guys you are with us and are supposed to evacuate the elementary and middle schools"

Quickly the group made their way to their destination. Because they are all in the senior class they are to report to the Hunter's Organization for when they need extra people in cases of emergency. This was one of those times.

"Shizuo you go to the middle school. Erika you go to the elementary school. Celty and I will stay here to direct the students to evacuation sites." Directed Shinra as he pointed at the two schools across the street from each other.

"Let's go Izaya" said Shizuo as carried the kitsune to the middle school.

Once they entered the school Izaya jumped out of Shizuo's arms and changed back to his human form.

"Izaya go to the roof and keep a look out for the youkai. I will get everyone out." Said the blonde quickly as he ran down the hallway to the first classroom.

Shrugging his shoulders and leisurely made his way up to the roof and sat on the edge. He watched as a slow trickle of students made their way out to the street and was directed by Shinra and Celty to the evacuation sites.

"Look at all those little bugs. Humans are so interesting" he mused as he watched the students.

The students coming out of the school started to lessen and Izaya sighed in boredom as his entertainment walked further away. Finally, the last of the students and teachers made their way out of the building followed closely by Shizuo. The blonde turned to look up to the roof of the building and saw his partner perched on the side.

"So how are you and Izaya getting along?" asked Shinra as he directed the elementary students that were still in the process of evacuating.

Shizuo just shrugged as he turned his attention from the roof to his friend, "he is annoying"

Shinra laughed in reply as Erika ran to join them.

"The elementary is evacuated. Walker is doing a double check of all the rooms" she said happily.

 _"Good work everyone! Once Walker is done we should go to HQ and regroup for further orders"_ read Celty's PDA.

Walker floated out of the elementary school, "All good"

"Good let's get Iz-" An explosion from behind them cut off Shinra.

Celty and Walker jumped into a fighting position as they turned to face the middle school. A portion of the roof caved in and rubble fell to the front of the building. Standing in the middle of the destruction was a large youkai.

"What is it?" asked Shizuo trying to remember what he learned from class.

Erika gasped, "It's a tengu! We need to leave right now"

Celty agreed and used her shadows to wrap Shizuo, Erika and Shinra protectively incase the tengu attacked them.

"Wait were is Izaya?" asked Shizuo as he looked around for his partner.

Almost like an answer to his question the tengu gave a growl as he lifted a limp figure into the air before slamming it into the ground. Shizuo watched confused as the tengu lifted the form up again before throwing it towards the small group.

"Izaya!" called Shizuo is surprise as his partner landed a few yards infront of them.

The kitsune was a sight for sore eyes, his coat was torn and there looked to be blood soaking through it. At hearing Shizuo's voice Izaya slowly turned his head to the side. His vision was blurred from the blow to his head.

Shizuo broke away from Celty's shadows and ran over to his partner. Before he could get close to the fallen kitsune the tengu gave another yell and used his yoki to summon a lightning bolt to attack the blonde with.

Shizuo dogged the attack but he was unable to get any closer to the brunette.

"Hey you stupid fox! Get up already and help me" he growled to Izaya.

 _"I will hold it off. Go get Izaya"_ read a PDA that was shoved into his face.

Shizuo nodded and waited for Celty to attack the large youkai. While the tengu was distracted with shadows and a ghost attacking it Shizuo ran to his fallen partner.

"Hey Izaya, we gotta go. Get up" he stated annoyed that he had to help the annoying fox.

A groan was his response. Slowly Izaya tried to sit up, wincing slightly, he looked up at Shizuo who was standing over him, "What a brute Shizu-chan, you don't even care about your partner"

The blonde just raised an eyebrow, "Like I care if you get hurt or not. Just don't die yet so I can kill you"

Izaya rolled his eyes at the Neanderthal's answer. The tengu thrashed around the parking lot of the school attracting Izaya and Shizuo's attention. Quickly the kitsune was on his feet.

"Let's go guys" yelled Shinra as he and Erika moved closer to the two.

"Erika! That tengu is strong. We need to regroup with the Hunters" said Walker as he appeared next to her side.

Celty joined them shortly after using her shadows to distract the tengu and they ran down the street back towards the home base.

Erika pulled out her phone, "Kadota! Thank god you answered. There is a tengu at the middle school. We are making our way back to base now"

There was some words said on the other side before Erika replied, "we are fifteen minutes away."

A reply on the other side before the brunette spoke again, "Thanks Kadota. Be there soon"

She hung up and turned to Shinra and Shizuo, "Kadota is already at the base and he is going to tell Shiki about the tengu"

"Good. I wonder what the rest of the town looks like" Shinra said as they continued to run.

"Stop" yelled Izaya who had been taking up the rear of the group.

Everyone stopped suddenly right before the road erupted infront of them. Looking up they saw three tengu flying above them.

"Hide!" Yelled Shizuo.

Everyone dove behind cars or inbetween buildings. Erika and Shinra huddled in the opening of an alley way while Shizuo and Izaya ducked behind a truck while Celty and Walker stood in the road to face the enemy.

Erika pulled her phone back out, "Hey Kadota. We might need a little help….. we just ran into a few more"

"No one can assist us? Where is everyone?"

"The woods?!"

"Fine. Thanks" groaned Erika as she snapped the phone closed and turned to Shinra.

"All of the hunters are currently in the woods chasing down the intruders. Kadota said he would try to join us soon" said Erika as she slumped to the floor in anger with the situation.

"Celt darling we are by ourselves!" he called to the dullahan.

The headless woman swung her scythe of shadows to deflect the lightning bolts. Shizuo was using cars to throw at tengus still in the air to help his friends fight. He turned to his partner to see Izaya leaning against the wall of a building.

"Izaya! What the hell are you doing? Get over here and help me" he yelled in rage at how his partner was slacking.

The kitsune turned a glare at the blonde before pushing himself off the wall and walking up next to him.

"You could probably defeat all of these guys be yourself you monster. I don't see why you need help, just throw a few more cars" he smirked at the brute.

With the combined effort of Celty and Shizuo they managed to take down one of the tengu, only for four more to come in to replace it. Shinra and Erika were chased out of their hiding spot and into the middle of the road with the others. Now they were all surrounded.

"Drop it" growled a tengu to Shizuo who was holding a car above his head.

Shizuo growled back but dropped it when he noticed that Shinra and Erika would get caught in the cross fire.

"What do you want?" asked Erika as Walker floated next to her closely in case the youkai attacked.

One of the youkai stepped forward, his large black wings beating in agitation as he stepped up to the prisoners, "We will be getting rid of you hunters" he growled.

Shinra gulped at the statement but he was thankful for Celty being next to him because she would not let anything happen to him. Shizuo clenched his jaw but made no movement.

Seeing that none of them would be replying the tengu continued, "Humans are weak and we have decided to expand our territory to this area. All we need to do is get rid of you hunters and we will be able to easily expand"

"You can't do that" exclaimed Shinra.

The tengu gave a dark laugh, "You can't stop me" then he turned to his subordinates, "take them with us. We will need to make a demonstration to the rest of the humans"

Using their numbers the tengu managed to grab Shinra, Erika and two grabbed a hold of Shizuo. With the humans caught, their partners can only go along with what the tengu want or else risk injury to the humans.

 **This chapter was written while in class so I am sorry for any grammar errors. I hope you all enjoyed!**


	9. Chapter 9

**I am so sorry about the long wait! I could not figure out how to continue this story. I would type something not like it then start over. So I hope this is good. Thank you for still reading this story!**

 **Thank you for all of the great reviews!**

 **I own nothing.**

"Kira what do we do with them?" Asked the tengu holding Erika.

The youkai in question turned from glaring at the three partnered youkai and faced the questioner, "We will regroup with the rest but first we need to take care of these traitors"

Youkai who partner with humans are labeled as a traitor, because the hunters use them to attack their own brethren sometimes. But not all of the partnered youkai are used that way some are trying to help cohabitate with humans but still there will always be those who do not want the change. These tengu are a part of the idea that humans and youkai should live in their own worlds with the humans afraid of youkai.

"What are we gonna do guys?" asked Walker as he floated nervously next to Celty.

Izaya laughed out loud in a crazy manner causing everyone to look at the kitsune.

"What's so funny fox?" growled the tengu that seemed to be the leader.

Wiping away a tear from his eye Izaya stuffed his hands in his coat pockets, "Everything you silly tengu. You are all from the Fire clan correct?"

The surround sound of growls gave him his answer so the raven haired male smiled and skipped up to the tengu.

"Your lord, Hibe, is he still around?"

The lead tengu, Kira, roared, "How do you know our lord, you scum?"

Izaya just smirked at this, "Well your lord used to hire me to gather information for him. Tell me, how long did it take for your army to defeat the earth clan?"

The tengu are a very secretive group. No one outside of the clans would have known about the battles a few years ago. The fire clan had managed to defeat the earth clan with one final battle, no one knew how lord Hibe knew that the enemy was hiding where they were.

"Captain Kira, this fox knows too much" whispered a smaller tengu to the leader.

Jira nodded as he glared at the fox, "We will take this group back with us to camp. Leave the town to the others" he ordered.

Swiftly the group took off into the skies. Shizuo growled as he was lifted up by his arms between two Tengu, Shinra and Erika both squeeled in fear as they were thrown over their captor's shoulder and took off into the sky. Celty used her shadows to create wings and flew after them but still kept a safe distance so that they would not harm Shinra, Walker floated close beside her. Kira turned his attention to Izaya once all of his men were on their way back to camp.

"What game are you playing informant?" growled Kira.

The kistune laughed as he stuffed his hands into his jacket pocket, "Humans are so interesting don't you think? They live such short lives but still view themselves as the top of our food chain."

Kira gave his own small chuckle, "So why would you put yourself below them. You are now a pet informant."

Izaya narrowed his eyes, "I am no pet. Shizu-chan is no human. Not with the strength he has"

The tengu raised his eye brow at the kistune, "You are deceiving yourself. You are a pet. That human has your life in his hands now informant."

Izaya let out a small growl, this tengu had balls to be talking to him that way.

"You would do best to keep your thoughts to yourself tengu" he growled with an evil grin his ruby eyes glowing.

The captian was startled by the authority in the kitsune's words, "Know your place pet"

Izaya's laugh split through the tense air. In his palm he used his yoki to summon a small flame, "Is that a challenge Kira?" he asked mockingly.

The tengu flared his own yoki causing a blot of lightening to crash next to the kitusne. But Izaya was unfased as he continued to laugh. Three tengu came rusing back to their captian when they felt the rise in his yoki.

"Sir! What has happened?" asked one of the subordinates.

"Get him!" roared Kira.

Outnumbered Izaya tried to fight off the youkai but was quickly overpowered. The three newcomers joined together and each hit him with their electric yoki. Kira chuckled when the kitsune fell to his knees in pain. His breath was labored and he had burns along his face, his coat singed. But his ruby eyes continued to glare at his enemy.

"Now let's get going informant" grinned Kira as he shot his own yoki at the injured kitsune.

At the tengu camp

The camp was halfway up the mountain from the town but to the opposite side of where the fighting was happening. No one would be wandering this way for a while.

"Captain Jira!" called the tengu holding Shinra as they approached the group on the ground.

One of the tengu in the camp looked up at the returning group, "Tezai, welcome back. Where is my brother?"

Tezai dropped Shinra in the arms of a waiting Tengu who bound his arms behind his back, "Captain Kira is on his way with the last prisoner."

A group has now gathered in the middle of the camp. All of the tengu were on their toes as they watched the ghost and dullahan. The humans seemed to be easily contained.

"Why have you brought these humans and traitors to our camp" asked Jira as he looked over the captives.

Tezai's eyes turned serious, "There is a kistune among them that claims to have helped Lord Hibe during the war with the earth clan. He is an outsider and knows too much."

Jira growled as he looked over the newcomers, "Where is this kitsune?"

Before the subordinate could reply there was a commotion in the camp. They looked up to see Kira and three other tengu coming towards the camp. Over Kira's shoulder was a from in dark clothing. When they landed Kira dropped the form. Izaya fell lifelessy to the ground, the burns on his face attested to a struggle, his clothes were burned and his tails splayed around him without even twitching.

"Izaya!" came a yell from the group of captives.

Kira turned his attention to the blonde human, the one with the super strength.

"Did he just say Izaya? As in Orihara Izaya?" whispered a tengu to another.

Whispers began to flow through the camp. Kira and Jira stood over the unconscious kitsune with dark looks on their face.

Shizuo looked around the camp. Why were they all whispering about Izaya? He is just an annoying flea. He turned his attention back to his partner. He was angry. Angry that someone had injured the annoying youkai instead of him. Angry that Izaya looked so helpless as the two tengu towered over him. Angry that he had no idea what was going on!

"Shizou, I don't think you should have said Izaya's name" whispered Erika from his left.

The blonde nodded in agreement, but when he saw the condition that his partner was in he couldn't control himself. He had felt worried and he didn't know why.

Shinra shuffled closer to the two, his arms also bound behind his back, "We need to get out of here. I don't know what these guys are going to do to us or our partners"

They looked across the way to see Celty and Walker surrounded by the tengu. They were keeping the humans and youkai separated.

"Captain Kira, Captain Jira, lord Hibe is on his way here." Called a tengu that was keeping watch on the perimeter.

Quickly all of the youkai began to move. Half of the camp surround Celty and Walker to prevent them from attacking their lord and the other half surround the humans. In a few moments three more tengu arrived in the camp. Hibe was easy to identify, he was large, as tall as most trees and his wings were the length of a car. His eyes were cold and calculating as he glanced over the small camp.

"Why have you not broken camp yet?" he asked coldly.

Kira bowed to the large tengu before answering, "We did fight them but we discovered something we thought would interest you my Lord"

The lord did not answer just waiting for them to continue. The captains parted to show the form on the ground at their feet. It took less than a second for the lord to know who it was. After all a nine tailed kitsune is hard to forget.

In less than a second HIbe was holding the lifeless form up by his neck, "Izaya Orihara" he growled before slamming the kitsune onto the ground.

Izaya groaned as he slowly came to. Sharp eyes swiftly figure out what was going on as he dodged a large foot coming down towards his face. He clenched his teeth as the pain that ripped through his body as the movement jarred his burns.

"Ah lord Hibe. Long time no see" he smiled menacingly, he was too injured to avoid the punch to the face that had him sprawling back to the ground.

Hibe growled, "You annoying informant"

Izaya just laughed, "Is that anyway to treat someone who helped you out?"

This time Kira stomped down onto Izaya's chest squeezing the air out of his lungs, "Shut up traitor"

Hibe turned his attention away from the struggling kitsune and looked to the other captors, "Why are they here?"

Jira turned as well, "They were brought back by Kira. They were all with the kitsune. He wanted to make an example out of them to the other humans"

Hibe gave this some thought before answering, "Good idea. We will take them down to the town tomorrow. The fighting as paused for now with the sun setting"

"So can we have to entertainment tonight?" asked Jira as he watched his brother tie up the kitsune.

"Yes but only with the traitors. Humans are weak. We don't want them dying to early"

The other tengu cheered in agreement.

"They are going to execute us tomorrow morning" said Shinra a little scared.

Erika gave a shudder at the thought, "We really need to get out of here"

"I can break these ropes. But I do not know if we can get out of here with all of these youkai" Said Shizuo as he looked around the camp.

Even with his super strength they were still greatly outnumbered. Shinra gave a sad huff as he settled down on the ground to get comfortable.

They watched as the tengu approached Celty and Walker. Intent on torturing them through the night before they are executed. Shizuo almost laughed when one of them tried to grab Walker, but because he is a ghost they could not hold him. They did not even try to mess with Celty once they saw her shadows dance around dangerously. Heads bowed in disappointment the tengu went to the fire to make dinner or to settle into their sleeping spots.

The captain and lord tengus were still in the middle of the camp with Izaya at their feet. Shizou tried to see what they were doing, not that he cared for the flee or anything but they might be able to use him to get out of here. He could see that the kitsune was tied up and had a lot of injured a bruise was forming on his cheek from the punch he had gotten. Shizuo's attention was brought to a sound by his feet. Looking down he saw a mouse scurrying around on his shoes.

"Ew" said Shizuo as he tried to shake off the rodent.

Erika looked over and a smile broke out, "Stop is Shizuo." She hissed.

The mouse heard her and jumped off Shizuo to run over to the girl, "Hello Erika" the mouse squeaked.

Shizuo's mouth dropped, "Did that mouse just talk?" he whispered.

Shinra gave a laugh at his friend's surprise, "Yes Shizuo that is Saburo. He is Kadota's partner"

The mouse jumped onto Shizuo's shoulder, "Hello Shizuo it is nice to meet you. Kadota is in the woods on the other side of the clearing. He has some others with him. I am going to cut your ropes. When you see an opening take it and run back to the village it is a straight shot behind you" informed the mouse.

Quickly the mouse cut through the ropes. But instead of returning to the woods to seek out Kadota it ran over Izaya.

"Ha look at this brother. Rodents are the only ones that seem to care about this thing" chuckeld Jira as the mouse sniffed around the kitsune's face.

"Hello mousy" said Izaya as he ignored the tengu, "Where are your friends?"

The mouse paused for a moment, he did not know that he had ever met the kitsune before for him to know who he was. But either way he suttly nodded his head to were Kadota was hiding.

"Why would it have friends?" asked Jira confused about the kitsunes words.

Izaya laughed, "obviously rodents live in groups. So he is bound to have friends somewhere." He then turned his attention back to the grey mouse, "I will name you Saburo" he said with a wink.

Now Saburo was deffinelty confused. He even knew his name! Who was this youkai. A little bit more hesitant the mouse tried to act like he was sniffing out the kitsune as a food source. He made his way towards the ropes around Izaya's writsts. But before he could start cutting the bindings a bushy tail pushed him away roughly. Getting up Saburo saw Izaya pinned down by his throat.

"Enough out of you" Said Hibe growling angry with how easy going the informant was acting.

Izaya just laughed.

"You should die for betraying us to the earth clan" the lord growled.

Izaya narrowed his eyes at Hibe and continued to chuckle, "Did you think I would only serve you? The Earth clan paid me just as well for my services. You should be happy that you paid me the most, hence why your side won" he laughed gleefully.

Hibe growled again and lifted the bound kitsune up into the air before slamming him to the ground. Izaya's head smashed into the dirt with a heavy thud but he only clenched his jaw to the pain.

"You caused the death of my men. Deaths that could have been avoided if you did not give them the information of where we were camped"

Izaya still chuckled, "War is business Lord Hibe. You should know this well. This is on the first war you have been in. After all you are about to start a war with the humans and I am sure you are doing it for some reason other than being bored. It is a business move."

"I should kill you!" he growled punching the kistune in the stomach.

Izaya coughed slightly, "Did you think I would not have my back covered? The air clan is waiting to fight you for your resources. I have already sent them word that you are attacking the human town and you left your village open for attack."

Hibe stopped punching the informant his eyes wide, Jira and Kira growled behind him. "What?"

Izaya looked to the setting sun, "I would wager that they will be ready to attack your village in two days' time. I would hurry home if I were you"

The lord Hibe of the fire clan tengu roared with so much anger that his yoki turned the sky to storm clouds. Thunder and lightning rumbled in the air as his rage increased from the kistunes insane laughter.

Suddenly a group of men and youkai swarmed from the woods, battle cries ripping from their throats as they attacked the tengu. Rain poured from the skies as lighting struck the trees. Fire started to engulf the small camp as the fighting started.


	10. Chapter 10

**Alright so I will try to update more often because it is summer. Enjoy! I own nothing.**

Shizuo used this chance while his Tengu guards were distracted to free Shinra and Erika. The trio quickly met up with Celty and Walker. Celty had her scythe out and was striking down any enemy that got too close.

"where is Izaya?" asked Shizuo as he scanned the area for his partner.

Across the way he could see that the fox was still held inbetween the three tengu. One of them holding Izaya down with his foot to the injured fox's chest.

Shinra saw this as well, "Celty we need to help him" he said to the black clad woman.

"Walker back Celty up." Said Erika, "Shizuo we need to get out of the way." Said the brunnete as she ducked a wayward tree that was thrown from a tengu.

Shizuo nodded after sending one last look at his partner and they ran to the clearing. More than five feet away from the tree line they ran into a young man around the same age as them.

"Kadota" cried Erika as she hugged the man.

The guy, Kadota, sighed in relief when he saw the trio, "Erika! So glad you are alright. Shinra and Shizuo are you guys alright?"

Shizuo nodded, "Thanks for helping us. I did not know you had a youkai partner?"

Kadota laughed, "You have met Saburo before. He is a shape shifter. You just never noticed him before probably"

The blonde just scratched his head, "Uh sure"

"We need to move guys. The fire is getting bigger. Soon we will be surrounded" said Shinra as he couched around the thickening smoke.

Kadota looked around, "We will have to get back to he clearing. The tengu should be taken care of by now"

They went back and saw several bodies of tengu lying in the pools of rain water. They could see their fellow hunters with their partners securing the area, "Hey Lee" called Kadota.

A man with dark black hair ran over, "The other escaped captain."

"No worries. Let's deal with this fire and then head home" ordered Kadota as he made his way over to where he saw a small group of youkai.

"Kadota" greeted a light haired brunette.

"Good work Saburo. Can you go help Lee please?" he asked his partner.

The brunette nodded and ran off to join the others with Celty close behind, her shadows quickly working on the fires. Kadota turned around to check on his friends and saw that they were kneeling on the ground next the kitsune he had seen earlier.

"Get off me you off" growled the fox as he sat up and used his fire to burn the ropes around his arms.

Shizuo glared at his partner, "I was just making sure you weren't injure" he deffened.

Izaya just rolled his ruby eyes and untied his legs, "Thanks Dota-chin." He said to Kadota.

Kadota blinked, "What did you call me?"

"Dota-chin" smiled the fox.

Erika squeeled, "I love that! Dota-chin, Dota-chin" she chanted.

The hunter captain just groaned before walking away to check on the fires. Shinra chuckled at his friend's predicament, Erika could be very annoying when she got hooked on something new.

"Erika you should probably calm down" chuckled Walker as he floated beside his partner.

The happy girn calmed slightly before running off to join her friend, Walker close behind.

Izaya smirked as he slowly made it to his feet. But just as he was about to take a step he stumbled and luckily Shizuo grabbed the fox's shoulder to steady him.

"You should just rest Izaya. The tengu are all gone" said Shinra as he watched Shizuo drape the fox's arm around his shoulder.

He received a red glare in response, "Shut up Shinra"

The doctor in training laughed and they turned their attention to the diminishing flames. Kadota and three other partnered groups had just finished putting out the last of the flames.

"All right you guys should go home. We got it handled here. I received reports that all of the other battle fronts were abandonded as well." Said Kadota after he got off the phone.

Izaya laughed, "You will not be seeing them for a while. They will be fighting a war of their own for the next few months maybe years" said the fox.

Shizuo glanced at his partner but decided not to ask the questions on the tip of his tongue. Instead he just rolled his eyes and started to pull the fox along. Shinra and Celty came along with them.

"Do you think we will still have school next week?" asked Shinra as they tiredly walked through the trees.

Shizuo groaned at the thought, he felt like he could sleep for a week. Even if they did have school he was just going to skip he decided. In less than twenty minutes they were back in town. Surprisingly there was not too much damage done. There were a few pot holes but those should be fixed by the end of the week and a few cars were crushed.

The group split in half as Shinra headed home with Celty and Shizuo dragged Izaya home. At the Heiwajima house hold Shizou was not surprised that his brother was out, he was probably helping with the cleanup.

His mother had a plate of snacks sitting on the table waiting for her sons. It was already one in the morning, so she had gone to bed hoping that her children would be safe.

"Get a snack Izaya then I will clean your injuries" said Shizuo as he grabbed a glass of water.

The fox did not need to be told twice as he slumped into a chair gracefully and nibbled on a sandwich. He was in pain but he was not going to let the brute know that, he still had his pride. His yoki was already getting to work to heal his wounds so he was not concerned he just wished it would stop the pain that was pulsing through his body.

"I will be right back" said Shizuo as he left to grab the first aid kit from his room.

Izaya didn't bother to reply as he got up to get some water himself. He heard a floorboard creak behind him but thought it was the brute. But realized he was wronge when he felt an arm curl around his neck and pull him back from the sink.

Instanly Izaya's hands grabbed at the limb trying to get air back to his lungs. He could feel that the person behind him was larger than him and that the limb was covered in scales. Too tired to use yoki to burn his captor Izaya tried to bite the scaly arm.

"That's not going to work" chuckeld the voice of his opponent.

Izaya let out a small growl his vision starting to blur. "Dad! Stop it Shika" yelled Shizuo as he raced back into the room.

"Hello, Shizuo" said a different voice happily.

The captured fox tried to look behind himself but was not able to as the youkai holding him tightened his grip. Shizuo ignored the blonde man sitting at the table and rushed to his partners side.

"Shiki let my partner go" he growled.

Izaya gasped on the fresh air as he was thrown to the ground, "What the hell" growled the fox as he turned around.

His captor had been a reptile type youkai. He was a good foot taller than Shizuo and had a long tail with his whole body covered in the scales. Shizuo knelt down on the ground and rubbed the struggling kistunes back. He turned and glared at his father.

"What was that for?"

The blonde man shrugged, "What do you expect me to do when a strange youkai is in my house?"

Shizuo stood up leaving Izaya on the floor and grabbed his father by the front of his shirt glaring, "You have not been home in three years! You have no right to come in here and attack my partner" he exclaimed.

"Put me down Shizuo" glared his father.

The tempered teen did the opposite he pulled back his fist ready to punch when he felt a soft body bump into him making him tumble forward. He dropped his father and turned around to punch Shiki, the lizard and was surprised to see Izaya holding his stomach but facing his father's youkai.

"Hmm, it seems that your partner is strong to be able to still be standing after receiving a punch from Shiki" observed the older Heiwajima as he looked over the kitusne.

Without looking from the lizard Izaya growled to Shizuo, "Be aware of your surrounding Shizu-chan. This guy almost took off your head"

Shizuo helped the kitsune to sit down in the chair by the table before facing his father, "I do not want to deal with you right now. Stay on the couch" he said then turned his attention to his injured youkai.

"Fine Shizuo. But we will talk tomorrow" stated the elder not at all happy being ordered around by his son.

Izaya got to his feet, "I am done with this day. Stay and talk to your father if you want but I am going to bed." He muttered and slowly made his way to the stairs ignoring the glares sent his way.

Shizuo followed the fox demon still concerned, "I want to check your injuries first"

"No. I just want to sleep. I have been treated like a punching bag all day. I don't want to turn into your pin cushion either." He stated before turning into a fox and jumping onto a pile of blankets next to the bed, end of discussion.

The blonde teenager chuckled at the fox's antics. But he couldn't argue with him, after all he was the most injured and Shizuo was not the best at treating wounds. So he just sighed before heading downstairs.

His father sat up from his spot on the couch an expectant look on his face.

"I still don't want to talk to you. Just wanted to let you know that Kasuka also has a partner. Don't attack them" then he turned around and went back upstairs to bed.

He laid down and stared up at the ceiling for a while, he hadn't seen his dad in years and now he just shows up out of nowhere like nothing happened. His mom was not going to be happy. He sighed annoyed and then flipped over and looked at the sleeping fox.

"Huh, guess we never finished that fight" he chuckled before reaching over the edge of his bed and scooped up the slumbering fox and pulled him under the covers. Izaya stretched before burrowing into the warm blanket and falling back to sleep.

 **Sorry about the short chapter but I kinda got stuck. Any thought on how Shizuo and his dad should act together or their history? Review and let me know. Thanks for all of the support :)**


	11. Chapter 11

**Sorry guys. Just wanted to point out that I miss spelled Shizuo's dad's youkai. It's name is Shika, not Shiki. Also, I was re-reading what I wrote so far and wanted to correct that Izaya only has seven tails not nine. Sorry if that confused anyone. Ok here is the next chapter. I tried to make it longer to make up for the break I took. I own nothing. (:**

Shizuo opened his eyes slowly. He turned his head to look at the clock on his bedside table and saw that it was seven in the morning. So early. He then looked around his room to see what caused him to wake up at such an ungodly hour. Nothing seemed out of place and he could not hear anything. Then he felt it. Looking down to his side he could see the soft black fur of Izaya, the little fox was twitching in his sleep slightly and as a result was slightly kicking Shizuo in the side.

He gave a small smile at how innocent the youkai looked, almost like a normal fox. But he knew that Izaya is a forced to be reckoned with. Carefully the blonde climbed out of bed, trying to not wake up his partner and made his way out of the room. He tiptoed to his brother's room down the hall and nocked.

"Good morning." Greeted the younger Heiwajima.

Shizuo nodded in greeting as he made his way into the clean room, "Morning. Just wanted to let you know that Dad is home"

Even though his brother was always emotionless, Shizuo still saw the subtle stiffening of his shoulder but other than that he was impassive as ever.

"Does mother know?"

The blonde shook his head, "I didn't want to wake her up yet. Also, keep an eye on Ruri. Shika attacked Izaya last night and I don't want the same to happen to her"

The fairy who had currently been sitting on the bed nodded her head in understanding, also emotionless.

"Thank you. Should we go downstairs?" asked Kasuka.

Shizuo shrugged and made his way out of the bedroom to go confront his dead beat of a father. Kasuka and Ruri followed close behind.

When they made their way into the living room Shizuo glared at the lizard sitting in one of the lounge chairs while his dad slept on the couch.

"Kasuka go ahead and start of breakfast" said Shizuo as he walked towards the sleeping man.

The younger Heiwajima nodded and moved to the kitchen with the fairy. Shizuo stood over the sleeping man with a dark look before kicking the couch roughly and startling him onto the floor. Shika jumped up from his seat with a growl but did not attack.

"Oh good morning son."

"Don't. You are not a father to me. What are you doing here?"

"I just wanted to see my family. I miss you guys"

Shizuo just scoffed at that, "Took you three years to realize you missed us."

His father got up off the floor and dusted himself off, "I always missed you guys"

"Then why did you leave?"

"Because I had to" his dad growled.

Before Shizuo could retort he heard a gasp from the top of the stairs. "Kado?"

At the top of the stairs was his mother, "Sora" breathed Kado.

Shizuo's mother quickly made her way down the stairs, "Kado, is that really you?" she gasped as she slowly walked up to her husband.

The absent husband rose his arms ready to hug his wife when instead he was greeted with a stinging slap to the face. Shizuo's jaw dropped slightly at the sight of his gentle mother slapping someone.

"Sora, what was that for?" asked Kado as he held his red cheek.

"You disappear for three years and then try to come back like nothing ever happened!" She exclaimed angrily.

"I know honey and I am sorry. But I am back and we can forget that ever happened" he tried to say soothingly.

Sora glared at her husband, "Forget about it?! You left me with our children. I thought you died!"

"I am sorry babe. I want to fix it please" he begged, his arms stretched out to reach for her.

Shizuo stepped forward at this point, he noticed that his mom clearly did not want to be touched by his father. He placed himself between both of the adults glaring at his father.

"Shizuo move." Growled the older man.

At this moment the youngest of the family came into the room, "Food is done"

The tension seemed to dissipate slightly and the family awkwardly sat around the table. Ruri and Shika sat next to their partners but keeping a close eye on each other.

"Where is Izaya?" asked Shizuo's mother.

The blonde shrugged, "Probably still asleep"

They continued to eat the remainder of the meal in awkward silence. The only noise being the clinking of silverware on plates. After a half hour of eating everyone got up to clean off the table. Kado moved into the living room with Shika while the rest cleaned up.

"I have to go help with the cleanup in town." Stated Kasuka as he put on his coat and left with Ruri.

Shizuo was thankful that his little brother was gone, he didn't need to worry about what might happen in front of him.

"I also need to leave. All off duty nurses are to report to the hospital to help with the injured" said Sora as she grabbed her purse.

The blonde nodded, now not as relaxed with being left alone with his father.

The door shut and the two males looked at one another, "I know you are mad at me son. But please at least let me try to fix this"

"I am not stopping you." He replied crossing his arms.

"But you are not helping either"

"Why should I?!" roared Shizuo.

His dad took a slight step back from his son's anger, "I just want my family back. I left three years ago to save you guys. There was a problem I was having with a group of people and needed to get away to keep you safe."

Shizuo just rolled his eyes, not believing a thing, "You never wrote, called or hinted as to what was going on. You couldn't even lie and say you were on a job?"

His dad was sheepish at this point, "I know it was stupid and I am sorry. But I love you son."

Shizuo was annoyed at this point, "I am done with this." He said before going back up the stairs.

"I am going to go talk to my old boss and try to get my job back." Then he left with Shika in tow.

With a deep sigh the blonde sat back down on the couch. What a stressful morning. After a few moments he got up and made his way back to the bedroom.

Shizuo opened the door to his bedroom and a small smirk grew on his face. The little fox was curled up in the blue sheets with no care in the world. He quietly made his way over to the desk and decided to finish his homework, he had no clue if school would be cancelled tomorrow or not yet.

He got lost in the world of his textbooks, memorizing terms and writing notes. He was startled when his brother called his cell phone that was sitting on the desk.

"Hey" he said.

"I am not going to be home tonight. A lot of repairs are still needed" said the younger boy.

Shizuo bookmarked his textbook, "That is ok. Do you need anything?"

"No"

"Alright. See you tomorrow" said Shizuo as he pulled another textbook off the pile.

"Night" and the conversation was over.

Just as he was about to put the phone down Shizuo noticed the time, five at night. He had missed most of the day. Of course his stomach decided to let him know that it was empty. With a sigh Shizuo put his books away and got up to go make dinner.

Turning around he noticed that Izaya was still asleep, odd.

"Hey Izaya" whispered Shizuo as he gently patted the fox's head.

Izaya scrunched his nose before moving away from the hand trying to wake him. Shizuo chuckled as he scratched behind the fox ears causing them to twitch. He continued to scratch the fox along the back and stomach.

"Come on Izaya wake up" he said still scratching.

Slowly red eyes opened and the kitsune gave a big yawn. Shizuo was smiling now as he continued to pet the fox. Izaya seemed to glare at the blonde before getting up and jumping off the bed.

"It is time for dinner." Said the blonde as he made his way to the door.

He was boiling water for pasta when he heard the kitsune walking down the stairs. He turned around and saw the raven haired youkai in his fur trimmed coat and black pants.

"Watcha making Shizu-chan?" asked Izaya.

The blonde twitched at the nickname but didn't say anything, "Pasta. Hand me that box"

The youkai saw the box of pasta on the counter and handed it over to his partner.

"So you gonna tell me about what happened yesterday?" asked Shizuo as he dumped the noodles in.

Izaya shrugged before taking a seat at the table, "What's there to tell. We got attacked and rescued?"

"You know what I mean. Why did those guys know who you are? You seemed to know them pretty well" stated the fake blonde as he stirred the food.

Izaya gave an exaggerated sigh, "Former customers. We might not have parted on the best of terms"

Shizuo growled at the idea of the fox's shady work before turning on another burner and making the sauce for the noodles, "You shouldn't make a living messing up people's lives, it will bite in the butt"

The raven haired man laughed, "So wise Shizu-chan. But alas observing and manipulating beings is my calling. I can take a few bug bites here and there"

Shizuo whipped around at this point, "Bug bites?! Izaya you were almost killed by those Tengu. Literally you were under their feet about to get stomped to death"

Izaya just shrugged, "And yet here I am. Shizu-chan I have been doing this job for a lot longer than this town has even existed. I know what I am doing" he said his red eyes getting hard.

Shizuo stiffened, he had not seen his partner that serious before. He smelt his food burning and quickly tried to prevent ruining dinner. After a few minutes he placed two plates on the table. The two men in silence as they thought over the conversation they just had.

"Classes might be cancelled for a few days. Want to train together again tomorrow?" Shizuo asked awkwardly as he looked at the table.

"Sure"

They continued to eat the meal in silence and cleaned up the dishes. Shizuo moved to the living room to watch some Tv with Izaya sitting on the other end of the couch. They spent the next couple of hours watching Kasuka's movies and relaxing.

They had just finished the second movie when the front door smashed open and Kado barged into the room with Shika close behind.

"The bastard won't give me my job back" growled the head of the house.

Shizuo scoffed, "What did you expect? You up and left for several years, no one is going to trust you."

Shika glared at his eldest before storming into the kitchen and coming back with a beer. He dropped onto the opposite couch and propped his feet up on the coffee table before taking a big gulp.

"So how did you end up partners with a kitsune?" asked the elder man, "You have to know that they are pretty rare?"

Shizuo just glared at his father, "Why should I tell you anything?" he said crossing his arms.

Izaya who would normally jump on an opportunity to include himself in the conversation realized that he needed to leave this to his partner to handle. He may not like the protozoan but he would have to learn to respect him if they had to fight together.

"Son, you need to get rid of him. Kitsune are only known to cause trouble. There is even a story about how one of their high lords betrayed their own kind to the other youkai. If this guy is anything like that lord you will be in a lot of trouble. If you guys get into a scrape he could ditch you." Said Kado in his best fatherly tone.

Shizuo noticed the raven haired male tense slightly next to him but ignored it for now, "Yeah kinda like how you did?"

His dad gave a big sigh, "I know son. But I did that for your own benefit"

"You keep thinking that." Said Shizuo as he turned his attention back to the movie.

Kado jumped to his feet, "You ungrateful child. I left my home for three years to save you guys and now you won't even welcome me back with open arms"

Shizuo not at all intimidated, "Why would I welcome back a guy that abandons his family? This is sounding like a broken record."

Izaya sensing a possible fight decided to try his hand, "Kado you should leave."

Shika stepped towards the fox ready to fight.

"Do not talk to me kitsune." Growled the older man.

Shizuo stood up now, "His name is Izaya and even though he has only been here a little while he has more say than you do right now. So do as he says and leave" he growled.

Kado glared had at the youkai before turning his attention to his son, "I understand you feel neglected. But I am still your father and you will not talk to me this way"

"At this point you are no father. You shipped me away when I was a kid. You left when I needed you after getting home. At this point you are a sperm donor to me."

In a fit of rage Kado pulled his fist back to punch his son just as he was about to make contact it was caught by Izaya who was glaring hard. In the same moment Shika was also on his feet ready to defend his partner. Kado ripped his hand away from the fox and grabbed his beer to finish off.

Shizuo glared before turning to his partner and grabbing the fox's arm and pulling him out of the house and down the street. He dragged the fox a couple of blocks and was not stopping. He needed to calm down before he did something he regretted.

"Shizu-chan, you might break my arm if you keep this up" chuckled Izaya as he tried to keep pace with the fuming blonde.

Shizuo instantly halted causing the raven haired man to hit his back and released him, "Sorry" he mumbled.

Before Izaya could reply Shizuo ran into a mini mart, confused the kitsune waited outside looking up at the starry sky. A few minutes later Shizuo was out of the mini mart with a pack of cigarettes in his hand ready to smoke.

"I really needed that" he said as he puffed on the cancer stick.

"Wouldn't your mom be upset" chuckled the fox.

The blonde just glared before he walked down the street away from home. He made his way towards the park and sat on one of the swings as he worked on this third smoke.

"Those things will kill you" huffed the raven haired man as he sat upwind from the blonde.

"Shut up."

The sat in silence as the blonde continued to try and calm himself. Izaya started to grow bored so he jumped up onto his feet on the swing and started to slowly rock back and forth.

"Shizu-chan this is boring" whined the fox.

He just received a grunt in response and continued to smoke, he was halfway through the pack now.

"If you are going to be boring I might as well go look around town" huffed the kitsune as he jumped off the swing gracefully.

"We will head back home in a second. Need to calm down" sighed the blonde.

The kitsune sighed as he put his hands deep in his pockets and spun around waiting. He jumped around on the playground equipment.

"You look like a kid doing that" chuckled Shizuo after a few minutes.

Izaya hopped down from jungle gym and skipped over to the brute, "Ready to leave now?"

"Yeah sure" said the blonde standing up.

Shizuo brushed off his pants before walking back in the direction of the house, "We are gonna start practicing tomorrow. So be ready early."

Izaya just laughed as he skipped around the sidewalk next to his brute of a partner. Humans are so much fun to play with. The kitsune looked over his shoulder to see a dark shadow in the park they had just left, watching them before disappearing back into the darkness. Ruby eyes glittered in amusement before he turned back to Shizuo and continued skipping down the street.

 **What did you think? If you have any ideas about what should come next please review I am hitting a wall right now.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hi everyone! I hope I did not make you wait too long :) Soon the pace will start picking up either in the next chapter or the one after that.**

A month has passed since the tengu attacked and Shizuo's father reappearing. Everything seems to have gone back to normal, school is back in session and the town is fixed. Kado has managed to get a job as a youkai catcher and has been gone for the last three days, much to Shizuo's relief.

Right now it is Wednesday and Shizuo was sitting in class with Shinra.

"Ok listen up" called Shiki to the class, "The end of term is in two weeks and we will be holding the hunter exam the week after. To all of those who want to apply fill out a form and give it to the principal." He read off of a memo.

Instantly murmurs erupted through the class. A lot of the boys proclaiming that they were going to apply and become hunters while the girls drooled over the idea of who was going to be the next hunter.

The younger doctor in training turned to his friend, "Hey Shizuo, you and Izaya have been training together a month now. Are you going to apply?" he asked.

The blonde grinned down at the fox who was laying at his feet, "Of course. Gonna show that bastard Shiki who kept making fun of me that I am capable of being a hunter"

Shinra laughed at his friend's excitement until Shiki called the class back to order.

"This weekend is the survival test. We will leave Friday morning. Be sure to have packed everything mentioned on the list and get your slip signed by your parents." Shiki continued to read from his annoying memo, "Now let's get back to math."

"Shizu-chan you are so slow" chuckled Izaya as he watched the blonde pack his bags for the trip tomorrow morning.

"Shut up fox" growled Shizuo as he tried to zip up the stupid duffle bag.

The kitsune perched himself on the bed and played with the fur on the cuffs of his jacket while he pestered the brute, "Hey where are we going for this trip anyway?"

The blonde finally got the bag to zip and tossed it next to his desk, "I think they said by Konoha forest, we will be there Friday to Monday." he huffed and cracked his neck.

Izaya tensed slightly at this and Shizuo was quick to notice, "Why, what's up?"

The kitsune chuckled to cover up the moment of hesitance, "No reason Shizu-chan. Now come, your mother is almost done with dinner" he said as he strolled out the door.

The blonde followed but he didn't forget the look on the other's face. It was an emotion he had not seen before on the fox, was it fear? He decided he was going to keep a close eye on his partner during this trip.

"Shizuo! This trip is going to be awful, the bus ride will take ten hours!" whined Shinra as they gathered in front of the school with the rest of the students.

Shizuo hummed in agreement as he sat himself down in the seat across the aisle from his friend. Celty was sitting next Shinra while Izaya sat in the seat next to Shizuo. The lucky thing about Izaya's fox form is that he takes up less space than a person so Shizuo did not feel trapped in place like he would have sitting next to Shinra.

"Shizu-chan! Are you excited!" squealed Erika from her seat behind Shinra, "Dota-chin will be coming as well to supervise. It will be so much fun"

Shizuo sighed as he tried to calm the headache he could feel coming on. Izaya snickered, if that is even possible for a fox, before getting comfy in his spot to observe all the humans. Shizuo had found out about the fox's weird habit one day at lunch when the fox would just stare at people.

"Hey Shizuo" greeted Kadota as he walked onto the bus with his partner on his shoulder in the form of a mouse and took the seat behind him.

Shizuo nodded in greeting. He was glad that Kadota was the one sitting behind him, the man seemed to have a keen ability to read people and knew that Shizuo irritated easily. Strangely since the attack of the tengu the four of them had hung out a lot, either getting dinner or Kodato helping them with their homework.

Slowly the bus continued to fill up and Shizuo could already predict that this trip was going to make him insane. There were so many girly gossiping about the boys in the class and the boys rough housing in the seats it was enough to make Shizuo go stir crazy.

"Shut up" roared a voice from the front of the bus, Shiki, "You are all adults or almost adults so knock it off." He glared.

Simon stood up now, "Everyone hello!" he waved, "I am Simon." He greeted. "Trip will be rough but fun. So behave and be nice, fighting no good."

"We will be returning Monday night. It is important to listen to Professor Simon and myself during this exercise. We will be incorporating everything that you have learned so far into this field test" He said while giving all the students a stern look.

He turned his attention to the clipboard, "Now we will also have a few extra people with us today to keep things running smoothly. Dr. Kishitna will be here in case of emergency" at that a familiar man in a gas mask jumped up from his seat in the front to wave.

"Dad?!" exclaimed Shinra surprised.

"Hello son. Sorry I was not allowed to tell you that I would be joining you. But this is going to be so much fun, just like a camping trip" he laughed before sitting back down again at Shiki's glare.

"We will also have some newer hunters with us today to keep an eye on the area and continue their training and they are Kadota and Tanaka." Kadota stood up and bowed to the bus as well as young man that had dread locks.

Shiki nodded to them and they sat down, "Now time for the first part of this exercise. There is a binder under your seats it has detailed information about the area we are going to. Study up, we don't want any accidents" he said before sitting down and Simon started to drive the bus.

Shizuo reached under his seat and pulled out the heavey binder and looked over to Shinra who was already groaning.

"This isn't much of a holiday" Erika grumbled from her sleep.

Walked chuckled from the spot he was floating in, "It's not supposed to be a holiday. You are learning, it is just more hands on" he said and causing her to groan again.

Shizuo flipped open the binder to see many different tabs, ranging from different types of plants, to different maps and proper first aide. He groaned and decided to start with the first section, first aide.

It was three hours into the trip when they stopped for their first break. To everyone's surprise it was not at a rest stop or any building for that matter. They were standing on the side of the road with a small forest on either side.

"Here is the next part to your training. This is only an hour break. If you want food get it from the woods. If you need to relieve yourself. Do it in the woods. You need to learn to provide for yourself." Said Shiki after everyone got off the bus.

Tanaka and Kadota had already head out first to make sure the area was safe for the students while Shiki gave his lecture. The girls hung back a little, appalled at the idea of having to pee in the woods while the boys had no issues in picking a bush or tree.

Shizuo, Shinra and Erika walked a little ways into the woods to look for a snack. After a few minutes Erika stole Celty to go do girl things while the boys looked at the plants around them.

"Shinra that is poison ivy" warned Walker before the doctor in training could touch it.

"Oops" he chuckled as he backed away from the plant.

The ghost rolled his eyes, "Aren't you supposed to be a doctor or something?"

Shizuo laughed as he was reaching for some berries.

But before he could put on in his mouth a small fireball shot at his hand knocking it to the ground and catching it on fire, "What the hell?" he growled glaring at the fox who was looking anything but innocent.

Walked floated over to look at the bush, "Those were poisonous" he stated.

"How do you know so much about plants when you are a ghost?" grumbled Shizuo as he tried to find something else eatable.

Walked chuckled, "I need to make sure my living partner does not eat these kinds of things. Also if I ever want to trick an enemy into eating these kinds of things I will know what plants would get the best results"

The two boys nodded to that response and got back to looking for food while the two youkai observed. Ten minutes later Erika and Celty returned with a bundle of blueberries to eat.

"Ugh this is not very filling" groaned Erika as they finished off the berries.

The small group had found a clearing to sit in while they snacked. They still had a half hour before they had to be back.

Shizuo looked over to the fox who was sitting next to him, "Hey do you know of other food around here?" he asked.

Izaya looked up at the brute before giving an almost small eye roll before getting up and running into the underbrush.

"Where did he go?" asked Shinra confused.

 **He will be back in a moment** typed out Celty to her partner.

"Well he could have said something" grumbled Shizuo as he drank from the water bottle he was provided.

Erika snapped her fingers as she got a sudden thought, "Oh yeah Shizu-chan I meant to ask, why does Izaya still stay in his fox form at school? I mean most of the hunters know he can change into a humanoid." She asked.

Shizuo shrugged, "He thought it would be best because most students don't know that and it makes it easier to have him in a smaller state like that for a lot of things. It also keeps Shiki off our backs"

The girl accepted this with a smile, "Ok then I will make sure not to tell anyone"

After a comfortable silence among the group they heard a noise off to the side of the clearing making everyone tense incase they had to fight something. But, instead it was Izaya returning with a dead rabbit in his mouth. He walked over and dropped it in front of Shinra before turning around and jumping back into the underbrush.

"Oh I see" said the doctor as he pulled out a knife and started to skin the animal.

Izaya returned quickly with another rabbit and dropped it in front of the doctor again before running away to the forest.

"Cool, I forgot that a kitsune is still a fox." Squealed Erika as she helped the doctor.

Shizuo sat by observing, "What does that mean?"

 **They are natural hunters. It is in Izaya's instincts to be able to hunt for food** typed Celty as she sat next to the blonde.

Again Izaya returned but this time with a bundle of twigs and branches in his mouth. He placed them in the middle of the clearing before lighting it on fire. Shinra made quick work of skinning the animals and getting them over the fire.

"Thanks Izaya" praised the doctor as the rabbits cooked and the smell wafted through the forest.

Within moments other students made their way over to the clearing to figure out the smell.

"Hey that is cheating" exclaimed one boy who had not found anything to eat.

The adults of the group had also joined them now, "They followed the rules." Said Shiki with a small smirk on his face.

Simon stepped forward, "Partners are also good to use. Shizuo use Izaya who is fox to hunt." Said the Russian happily.

The students looked sheepishly to their partners who had been by their sides the whole time. The partners had been instructed before they left on the exercise that they were there to prevent their humans from getting into trouble but this was mostly a learning experience for the students. But if the student asks for help then the partner was allowed to help. In this case Shizuo had asked for Izaya's help.

"Do not worry it is training exercise. Learn for it" said the Russian as he patted a student on the head.

Shiki looked at his watch, "We have twenty minutes before we need to leave. If you have not found food by now, we have dehydrated rations on the bus." He said before making his way back to the road.

"Well done" stated Simon to the group by the fire as the last of the students left the clearing.

Shinra pulled the cooking food off the fire and split it amongst themselves. It was convenient that Celty and Walker did not eat food and Izaya only needed a little bit in his fox form. He gave some to the fox before Izaya got up to deal with the fire.

"We need to eat quickly so we make it back on time" Said Shinra as he bit into his portion.

"Thank you Izaya" exclaimed Erika as she ate her rabbit, "I thought we were going to starve"

Shizuo looked at his rabbit then to the fox who was kicking dirt over the fire.

"Good work fox" he said before holding out half of his portion to his partner.

The fox trotted over and delicately took to the offered meat and settled down next to the blonde to eat.

The same test was repeated once more next to a lake. But now the students knew to ask their partner for help. This time Celty made a fishing rod and hook out of smoke while Walker went into the lake to look for good fish and tell Celty were to aim. Izaya again, helped to cook the food with his fire.

"Well done" said Shiki as he observed other students managing to get food this time.

The students were a lot happier as they got back on the bus with full bellies as they made it to the final destination.

"Hey Shinra did you finish reading the binder?" grumbled Shizuo as he glared at a piece of paper.

The doctor groaned in reply, "No just a few more sections"

Kadota chuckled at his friends, "It is very important to know some of the stuff in there so take your time"

Erika let out a huge sigh, "Dota-chin can't you tell us what to expect?"

The hunter shook his head before turning his attention back to a novel he was reading to pass the time. They would be arriving at the camp site in two hours and he wanted to relax as much as he could before they got there.

Shizuo shut his binder with a loud thump and roughly set it down on the seat next him causing a startled yelp. He looked over and saw a fox glaring at him.

"Oh sorry" he said as he picked up the offending binder and put it on the floor.

Izaya huffed before getting comfortable again now that a heavy object was not on him. Shizuo looked at the fox for a moment before having a strange idea.

"Hey Izaya could you help me with this binder?"

The kitsune looked over lazily at his partner his look clearly saying, 'How am I supposed to do that, idiot?'

Shizuo ground his teeth as he pulled the binder back out and opening it to the table of contents.

"Which of these do I need to know?" he asked pointing to the paper.

The fox dragged himself over to the blonde and looked over the paper before using his paw and stepping on a portion of the paper.

"History? Why would I need to know that?" asked the blonde confused.

The fox managed to flip to that section with the help of his nose and paw. Then he looked through it until he came upon a certain story and stopped there.

"The youkai king?" he read aloud but shrugged before reading the short story.

It was a strange one about how there was a king of youkai, but he did not know of what clan or race, and how the king betrayed his people. He would sell them to other clans or set them up to be caught by humans. The king was also known for torturing his subjects for fun and after a while there was a rebellion and the king was killed. It was a strange story that did not really help Shizuo at all in learning anything about Konoha forest, the story seemed to not have any location to it.

"I don't get it" sighed the blonde.

Izaya looked over the story before putting his paw on the last portion of the story that talked about the rebellion against the king and used his yoki to burn the page slightly and covering the words.

"What the hell?" yelped Shizuo as he batted the fox away to prevent the paper from catching on fire.

Once it stopped smoking Shizuo looked over the story again, "Wait are you trying to say that this king was never killed?"

Izaya nodded then pawed the binder the section of plants and began to point out the things Shizuo needed to know. This continued on for the remainder of the trip and the blonde was able to learn a lot of things without having to read a lot of useless information. But he was still unable to understand why Izaya showed him that story.

"Room assignments are posted on the board by mess hall. Dinner is served at six. Be on time. Until then do what you want" Said Shiki before he and the other adults got off the bus.

Of course, Shizuo and Shinra was bunked together in cabin four. Surprisingly there were beds for the youkai partners too in the cabin.

"So let's unpack and then walk around the grounds" suggested Shinra as he pulled some clothes from his bag.

Shizuo shrugged in agreement and was about to start unpacking his bag until Izaya settled himself on top of it to sleep. In annoyance he picked the fox up the scruff causing it yelp in surprise.

"Wait Shizuo hold on. Hey Celty should we unpack or leave our stuff in our bags?" he asked.

 **Leave your things in your bag. You never know when you will need to leave in a hurry**

Shizuo read the message before tossing the fox onto the bed. The small fox bounced slightly from the impact before glaring and jumping over to his own bed.

"Hey Izaya why don't you change back so we can actually talk to you?" asked Shinra as he placed his clothes back in his bag.

The fox turned the doloughan, communicating, before Celty typed out a message, **He thinks it would be best to change back after dinner so no students see him and Shiki wont throw a fit.**

Shinra hummed in agreement, "Yeah that man would be pretty mad if the students saw you walking around. To be honest I am surprised no one else has figured out you are a kitsune yet. They only think you are a low level animal spirit" laughed the doctor.

The fox seemed to smirk from his position on the bed. Shizuo chuckled slightly at this because his classmates were really dumb sometimes.

The four of them decided to walk around a little bit before going to the mess hall and noticed that there was a lake on one side of camp and an obstacle course on the other.

"I don't like the look of that" said Shinra as they walked around the obstacle course.

Celty patted him on the back to soothe him. Six o'clock came up quickly so they went to dinner. Everyone was sitting at the tables ready because, it was obvious that Shiki was going to make this another test.

Shiki waited for the last people to sit down before starting, "This will be a small game of hide and seek. Our two guest Kadota and Tanaka are hiding on the camp grounds. You need to find them and you will receive a token from them to allow you to eat dinner tonight. There is no time limit" he said before walking out again.

"Why can't we just get food in peace" groaned Erika as she slammed her head into the table.

Shizuo stood up, "Might as well get started" he said and looked to his partner who nodded in agreement.

"Ok you are a fox right? So you should be able to smell one of them out right?" asked Shizuo as he looked at kitsune by his feet.

Izaya took off on a slow trot with the blonde behind as they made their way over to the lake. They easily found Tanaka who was leaning next to a tree peacefully.

"Hello Mr. Tanaka. We found you" said Shizuo lamely.

The man with dreads smiled at the student before standing up, "Yes you have. Now follow me and I will show you the next part of the assignment."

He walked them over to a path, "Follow this path you are to pick out all of the edable plants you can find. If you run into a fairy don't worry that is my partner Yuki. She is keeping lookout" He said before returning back to his tree.

Shizuo huffed before making his way along the path, thankfully it was still pretty light out so he could still see well. The blonde took his time observing the plants before he would pick one and hand it to Izaya to hold in his mouth. He caught the glimpse of the small fairy Yuki but he never came close enough to talk to.

At the end of the path Simon was standing with his arms crossed and a large smile. He knelt down to accept the plants for the kitsune before inspecting them.

"Well done. These no harmful. Dennis show you way back" Said the large Russian.

Confused as to who Dennis was, Shizuo was about to ask until an older looking man stepped out from the trees. The man's appearance was older than Simon with graying brown hair and a sturdy build. But Shizuo knew the man was a youkai from his dog ears and bushy tail.

"Hello. I am Dennis, Simon's partner. I am a werewolf" he explained as he led the way back to the mess hall.

Shizuo was surprised, "You speak normally"

Dennis laughed heartily at that, "Yes, Simon and I are from Russia and he has a harder time learning Japanese than me"

Shizuo liked the werewolf, he was easy to talk to and seemed to be the complete opposite from Simon. They quickly arrived at the mess hall and Dennis opened the door for them with a key. So the token was having a guide with a key, thought Shizuo as they were let in.

He quickly found Shinra who must have run into Kadota instead.

"We had to pick plants" said the doctor as he ate his stew.

Shizuo ate his meal as well, "Us too. Cook had me put it in a box" he grumbled as he ate the food.

The blonde stopped eating suddenly before getting up and walking over to the cook. Confused Shinra looked to the fox who seemed to be confused as well, but it was hard to tell. Then super strong student returned with a small bowl or soup and put it on the floor by Izaya.

"I am sure you could go hunting or something. But this is not bad either" he said before going back to eating his own.

Shinra smiled brightly, "You two are getting along a lot better than at the beginning" he stated.

Shizuo shrugged but did not disagree. It was true, the fox did not annoy him as much and they did seem to get along well enough. But he did wish he knew more about the kitsune all he really knows about him is his name.

Within the next half hour all of the other students returned. Shiki and Simon returned as well to say that they will be starting the next day at six in the morning with breakfast.

"It is only eight and I am dead tired" moaned Shinra as he fell onto his bed.

Celty's shoulders shook like she was laughing as he draped a blanket over his prone body. Shizou rolled his eyes at his friend's antics.

"Hey Izaya you can change back now" he said off handedly as he pulled out the binder to review some of the things Izaya showed him.

Within moments the raven haired man was perched on the bed next to him in his fur trimmed jacket and black pants.

"Today was fun, don't you agree Shizu-chan?" said the kitsune with a chuckle.

Shizuo just grumbled in response as he shoved the youkai away from his personal space.

"Hey Izaya feels like a long time since we have seen you in this form" greeted Shinra as he sat up.

"Indeed it has been a while. I thought I was going to forever be stuck as a little fox" he laughed as he jumped onto his own bed gleefully.

"Hey now that I can actually talk to you, tell me about this story" said Shizuo as he gestured to the binder.

"Hmmm, oh yes. That is a story of the king. It was written long ago but the king still reigns" said the fox as he looked at what Shizuo was pointing at.

Shinra looked to Celty, "What is he talking about?"

 **There is a king of youkai. He lives here in these woods, but don't worry I doubt we will run into him because we are not that deep into the forest and the king's forest is very well hidden** she typed out quickly.

"Do you know where the fortress is?" asked Shizuo surprised Celty also knew about this.

Izaya laughed from his spot on the bed, "Of course. All youkai know how to find the fortress. The king is so strong that his yoki is like a beacon to where he is. Even right now we know where he is" said the Kitsune.

Shinra gasped in surprise, "Really? I have not seen that in any of the books at school"

"It is common knowledge. I am sure your teachers and hunters all know. It is not important to know though. Because even if you know where he is it does not mean much. He is strong so it is doubtful anyone could beat him" said the kitsune.

 **That is true but a several centuries ago there was someone who tried. He almost succeeded but was in the end betrayed** said Celty as she showed the screen to the two humans.

"How was he betrayed?" asked Shizuo.

 **The youkai's own father turned him into the king. The traitor has been sitting the dungeons ever since, being tortured daily.** The others could tell by her body language that she was saddened by this.

Izaya chuckled, "That was true up until two centuries ago when he escaped and has been planning his rebellion all over again"

Everyone turned to him surprised, "Did you forget I am informant. It is my job to know these things" he winked at them.

"Wait so do you know who he is?" asked Shizuo surprised that his partner knew such important information.

Izaya nodded with a smirk, "of course. But I will not tell you. That will cost a price after all"

Shinra pulled out his own binder and skimmed through the story, "Wait is it true that he is a tyrant?" the two youkai nodded.

"Then why would anyone follow him?" he asked incredulously.

Izaya's normal playful and annoying face turned serious, "You cannot oppose him. The king of youkai has the ability to make you fall at his feet and pray for death. It is not that we follow him, but a survival instinct" he said.

Shizuo and Shinra gulped at the prospect of meeting someone like that.

"Have you ever met him?" Shinra asked the two youkai.

The both nodded, "He has called us all together a number of times when he has a special decree to make" answered Izaya.

"What kind of decree?" asked Shizuo.

 **Every couple hundred years there are population standards that need to be met. Either in under population or in over population.** Typed out Celty as her body shivered from the memories.

"What does that mean" asked Shinra as he pulled Celty into a hug and surprisingly she let him.

Izaya let out a deep sigh, "If we are underpopulated the king will make a decree, depending on certain clans, that they need to increase birth rates. That is normally not a problem. But when we are over populated he makes a decree of having those of lower status offer themselves up to be erased." Said the informant.

"So are you telling me that he controls how many youkai there are?" asked Shizuo totally surprised by this.

 **Yes. It is so that no one encroaches on each other's land. It has helped to eliminate most wars. There used to be a time that all youkai were constantly fighting.**

"But now your king just picks who lives and dies" growled Shizuo in rage.

Izaya jumped off the bed, ready to end this conversation, "Humans will not understand the way we do things. Just like how we will not understand the way you do things. Leave it at that" Said the informant.

Everyone sat in silence for a long time. Uncertain about what to say after such a dark topic.

"Hey Shizuo why is your binder burnt?" asked Shinra when he looked over at the bed.

Shizuo picked up the mentioned binder, "Izaya was helping me." Said and showed his friend how the kitsune had burnt out the unnecessary information.

Shinra looked it over, "That is really smart. Learn the necessary things because you don't want to overload your brain with useless information"

The blonde shrugged, "Yeah I guess. It really helped with that plant picking thing"

After that everyone got settled in for bed. The snuggled under their blankets and reenergize themselves to take on the next day. Unaware of the eyes watching the camp from the trees.

 **So how was it? Let me know and I hope to have the next chapter up next month but it might have to be in January because of all the holidays coming up.**


	13. Chapter 13

Happy New Year! So sorry about the long wait for this story. Part of my new year's resolution is to post new chapters for my stories in a more timely manner. Enjoy!

Shizuo jerked out of bed and landed on the floor when a horn sounded right outside the door. A familiar red oni opened the door with an evil grin while holding a bull horn.

"Time to get up" Mizuki chuckled before moving on to the next cabin of victims.

Shinra chuckled at the blonde teen on the floor and earned in a glare at his friend. The strong teenager growled at the annoyance of being woken up before getting up and dressed for the day. Sweat pants and a white t-shirt was today's fashion choice.

"I hate that youkai" grumbled the blonde as he took off his sleeping shirt.

Shinra jumped out of his bed and tackled the blonde making it the second time that morning Shizuo was on the floor, "Not in front of my Celty! I can't have her seeing the body of another man and falling out of love with me!" he exclaimed while pulling the blanket off of Shizuo's bed to cover his friend.

"What the hell Shinra! Get off" roared Shizuo as he tried to push his friend off without hurting him.

"Shizu-chan how could you? That is your best friend's woman" stated Izaya from his spot on the bed with an evil smirk, "You should know better than trying to seduce her"

The blonde glared over Shinra's shoulder at the kitsune, "Shut up" he demanded as he finally extracted the doctor off of him.

Quickly Shinra grabbed Celty's arm and dragged her out of the room, "See you at breakfast"

Shizuo stared at the closed door for a second before shaking off his friend's weird behavior. He heard the squeak of the mattress as Izaya got off the bed.

"Shizu-chan you might want to get dressed at some point today" chuckled the kistune as he tossed the white t-shirt to his partner.

Shizu glared but quickly changed and with a little black fox at his side he went to the mess hall. Everyone was sitting around and waiting for the inevitable test from their teachers. It seems to be their favorite thing to make the students work for food. Good incentive. Shizuo was left with having to take the seat in the very front were the person in charge stood.

Kadota was standing at the front of the room as everyone got settled.

"Alright, before your meal all you need to do is write a report" said the hunter.

Everyone groaned, "What kind of report?"

Saburo held up a stack of blank papers, "A mission report." He stated with a smirk.

All of the students grabbed a copy of the blank forms and started to fill them out. Luckily not much had happened the day before so reports were finished quickly and breakfast continued in calm fashion.

Once everyone finished Kadota and Saburo lead the class out to the obstacle course on the side of the camp. Shiki and Tanaka along with their partners were waiting for them at the front of the course.

"Alright, today will have a fitness test. Your goal is to complete the course in less than twenty minutes. You will continue to run the course until you accomplish this goal or until the sun sets." Directed Shiki as he held a stern glare to all of the students.

Shinra let out a quiet whine, "I am not going to be a hunter. Why do I have to do these kinds of things?"

 **"You never know when you have to go out into the field and get attacked"** wrote Celty as she watched the first group take off.

Shizuo huffed and looked down the fox by his feet. Izaya's red eyes were watching all of groups closely and the blonde shook his head at his partner's weird fascination with people watching.

"Hey fox" he said, earning the animal's attention, "We are up next. Don't slow me down" he growled.

Shizuo did not want to have to run through a stupid obstacle course several times because the fox messed it up. He could see the kitsune do something akin to an eye roll before following the human to the front of the course.

Tanaka gave them a nod to get started and the two ran past him and scaled over the brick wall easily. On the other side was a mud hole with barbed wire a foot and a half above the ground. Luckily Izaya was easily able to run underneath it while Shizuo had to army crawl through the dirt.

Next, they came to a narrow wooden beam that stretched across a moat of dirty water, about thirty yards in length. Shizuo rolled his eyes at the simplicity of the course so far but started to run across the narrow bridge with Izaya close behind. When a reached halfway something jumped out of the water and almost hit him off the beam if Izaya had not pulled him back by his pant leg at the last minute.

It was a snake that jumped out of the water and was now wrapped on the beam. The reptile bared its fangs and slowly slithered towards them. Shizuo was at a loss of what to do, he couldn't break the beam or they would fall into the water and it would take a lot of time to get back out. But he also could not waste time trying to fight the thing.

He was brought out of his thought of attack when a felt a light thump on his shoulder. Then Izaya landed in front of him. The fox and jumped over him.

"Can you fight that thing?" the blonde asked.

The kitsune turned his little head to the blonde giving him a very obvious, _Are you really asking me that, you idiot_ kind of a look. Shizuo clenched his jaw at his partner's attitude but did not react. If the fox could take care of this snake then they could move on quickly and finish within the time limit.

Izaya made quick work of the snake by throwing multiple balls of fire at the reptile causing it to dodge and loose its perch on the beam. With the snake distracted Izaya shoved it off the bridge and then took off running with the blonde close behind.

"Good work" huffed the blonde, he was impressed with how quickly that was handled and it did not put them super far behind.

They were halfway through the course and only ten minutes have been used so far. The next obstacle was a giant rock blocking the path. Smirking Shizuo easily lifted the offending object out of their way and they continued running. At the end of the path they met two familiar oni.

"Ah if it isn't our favorite student" chuckled Mizuki as he cracked his red knuckles.

Shu laughed as well as he got into a fighting stance.

"So we just have to get past you?" asked the blonde smirking.

Shu pointed behind himself, "You need to get that white flag before the time limit is up" he instructed.

Shizuo cracked his neck before charging at the two oni. Mizuki laughed crazily as he swung a fist at the student only for it to get caught and his body lifted and swung around into Shu. The blue oni shoved his partner off of him and ran at the blonde and managed to land a solid punch to his face before Shizuo retaliated with a kick to the stomach.

While all of this was going on Izaya easily walked over to the white flag. He looked back over to see his partner rolling around on the ground with the two oni while they all continued to punch each other. Izaya rolled his eyes as he grabbed the flag with his canines and walked over to the scuffling trio.

He sat down with the flag and waited.

"Izaya are you done yet, you stupid fox" growled the blonde as he shoved Mizuki off of himself and jumped to his feet.

Shu wiped the blood off his face from his bleeding nose, "Did you partner abandon you, brat?"

"Damn" came the gruff voice of Mizuki.

Shizuo and Shu looked over to the red oni and saw him staring at something behind them. Turning their attention in the same direction they saw a little black fox holding a white flag.

"Oh"

Shizuo let out a sigh, "Finally" he said before grabbing the flag from his partner and handing it to Shu, "Can we go now?"

Mizuki growled but nodded. Shizuo and Izaya walked along the last of the path and found themselves back at the cabins. Turn out the obstacle course looped around the outer side of the camp.

"Good work" said Simon as he greeted the two.

He gave Shizuo a bottle of water while Dennis put a bowl on the ground for Izaya to drink from.

"So now what?" asked Shizuo as he leaned against a tree in the shade, the weather had gotten very warm.

Dennis chuckled, "Well you completed the test in fifteen minutes. So you can just wait around until dinner time. Lunch you will have to get yourself."

Shizuo looked down at the fox, "Want to go swimming?" receiving a happy bark in return.

At the lake the two were greeted with warm sand and a beautiful clean water. Shizuo, who was now wearing swim trunks, jumped off one of the docks into the water.

He resurfaced and was surprised to see instead of a cute black fox looking down at him from the dock but Izaya in his human form. The raven was wearing black swim trunks now.

"Why did you change?" asked the blonde confused as he climbed back onto the dock.

Izaya sat down to let his feet hang off the ledge, "There is no one nearby and that form gets boring after a while" he chuckled while he kicked the water.

Shizuo was amazed at how childish the kistune looked while he kicked the water. Then his attention was drawn to how pale Izaya's skin was and how it contrasted with the black tails that were fanned out behind him on the dock. Shizuo sat down next to the smaller male and brushed his hand against the soft fur causing the tail to twitch slightly.

"Humans are so much fun to watch" commented the kitsune with a chuckled as he threw his head back to soak up the sun.

Shizuo rolled his eyes, "Yeah whatever"

Izaya chuckled again before he started to hum a strange song and kicked the water some more. Shizuo jumped when he heard footsteps behind him and got to his feet quickly. He was worried the newcomer would see Izaya in his human form and they would get in trouble with Shiki.

"It's just Shinra" hummed Izaya as he leaned back on his elbows lazily.

A moment later they saw the familiar brunette and headless woman. Both of them were wearing their swimsuits and Shinra had a bright smile on his face for obvious reasons.

"Hey guys" called the brunette, "Can you believe that we have free time until dinner?"

Shizuo laughed, "Yeah I thought they would be running us ragged the whole time we are here"

Izaya jumped up from his spot on the dock, "They probably would have. But your classmates are not doing so well on this recent test. We are the only ones to finish so far"

The blonde looked to his partner surprised, "how do you know that?"

The raven smirked before winking at the blonde, "I have my ways" then he turned his attention to the other two friends, "Let's take advantage of this time off." He said before jumping into the water.

Celty was quick to join the fox and the two humans were left up on the dock to watch at their partners play in the water.

"I would not expect that guy to be the playful type" stated Shizuo as he watched the two youkai try to splash each other.

Shinra adjusted his glasses as he thought, "Well foxes are playful by nature. I am sure that has something to do with it."

Shizuo was about to make another comment when suddenly they were both hit by a wave of water. The blonde glared hard at the laughing kitsune and the dullahan who was holding her side from laughing. The super strong teen roared before jumping into the water and tried to catch the fox. They continued to play like this for the next few two hours.

The four friends were on the beach laying on some blankets that Shinra had the foresight to bring while they ate some berries that Celty and Izaya picked from the nearby pushes.

"So what do you think will be the next test?" asked Shinra as he wiped his smudged glasses on his white shirt.

 **Hard to say** typed Celty from her spot next to him.

Shizuo just shrugged, "Who cares? As long as we pass"

Izaya laughed, "What a simple minded response. Just what I would expect from a protozoan"

The blonde glared at the fox, "What did you call me?"

The kitsune continued to laugh while Shinra tried to calm the blonde from causing a fight. Shinra and Shizuo both jumped when Izaya shot to his feet while Celty used her shadows to cover their mouths. The two humans sat still while they waited for whatever had spooked the youkai. After a few moments Celty released them and stood up as well.

"What's up guys?" asked Shinra confused while he fixed his glasses.

Celty help up one of her fingers, signaling them to be quiet while she turned around to look at the woods around them. Shizuo looked to Izaya whose red eyes were also scanning the trees.

"Shinra, Shizuo gather our things. We need to get back." whispered Izaya as his tails slowly grew tenser and Celty formed a scythe from her shadows.

The two humans made quick work of gathering their blankets. Izaya lead the two humans back down the path back to camp while Celty followed behind.

"Izaya what's going on?" asked Shizuo annoyed at being left out.

Without taking his eyes off their surrounding the kitsune answered, "We have some unwanted company"

At that moment several different youkai jumped out of the woods to surround the group. Celty reacted quickly to cut them with her scythe while Izaya threw fire balls to push them away. A path was made swiftly and they ran.

"Who are they?" yelled Shizuo as he chased after his partner.

Izaya glared at him, "Not now Shizu-chan" he barked at him and continued to launch off fire balls into the trees.

They broke through the underbrush to see all of their classmates. But all of the students and their teachers were knocked out cold, the youkais where huddled over their partners in their attempt to protect them but they too were unresponsive.

Izaya cursed under his breath when he saw the state of their group and turned quickly around and tackled Shizuo to the ground.

"What the hell Izaya?" growled the blonde as he tried to shove the fox off of him.

Izaya ignored him as he tripped Shinra who was right behind them. He then used his tails to wrap around their heads and turned to the dullahan.

"Siren" he told her quickly.

Celty changed her scythe into three pairs of headphones and passed them to the raven. Izaya gave them to the humans before putting a pair on for himself.

"Keep these on until Celty takes them off of you" he ordered before turning his attention to camp.

Shizuo was surprised at how serious his partner was acting but nodded and followed his lead. Izaya dragged the two humans over to a tree and told them to stay there. The two humans watched as Celty and Izaya positioned themselves in front of their partners.

Unable to hear anything they had to wait until they could see the girl to understand what was going on. A small girl with blonde hair walked into the middle of the camp. Shizuo was confused about who she was but knew she was the enemy.

The girl opened her mouth and seemed to be saying something but Shizuo could not understand her. She looked at the two youkai confused for a second before repeating herself and then looked annoyed. Shizuo noticed that Izaya's tails were flicking around nervously, making the blonde confused.

The girl stomped her foot in anger before looking over her shoulder and seemed to be talking to someone. Then Shizuo could see a boy that would be close to his brother's age walk out. He had blonde hair and his skin seemed to be covered in scales.

The boy spoke as well and Shizuo jumped when a forked tongue shot out of his mouth. So this guy was a snake spirit of some kind. Shizuo tensed when suddenly the blonde boy jumped towards his partner.

Izaya dodged the attack easily with a smirk on his face and made some kind of comment. The serpent did not seem to like his statement and narrowed his eyes at the fox. But Izaya was obviously the better fighter as he dodged and danced around the younger looking boy. Shizuo turned his attention to the other two youkai and saw Celty typing out a conversation with the girl.

The blonde also attacked without warning at Celty. But, the dullahan easily subdued her. After typing out another message to the girl and getting negative response from what Shizuo to gather, Celty swiftly hit her to the back of the neck. Knocking her out.

Sound suddenly came rushing back to the blonde as he heard a familiar laugh and loud cursing. He looked over and saw Izaya laughing at the serpent boy.

"You partner is down Masaomi." Chuckled the fox who was not wearing headphone anymore, "and your men will not be a challenge."

The serpent boy glared, "Orihara it's hard to believe you dropped to such a low position to be a human pet"

Izaya chuckled, "I see you are still a lap dog to the king. I don't see how our are positions are any different"

The serpent roar in rage before he opened his mouth to spit poison at the raven, but Izaya dodged easily leaving in his place burnt grass.

"So testy." Tutted the kitsune, "Now I believe it is time for the king's guard to retreat for now. After all that dullahan over there just knocked out the last of you men" said Izaya pointing behind the blonde.

Masaomi whipped around to find a pile of bodies next the headless woman, he hissed in rage before running over to the blonde girl that was lying in the middle of camp and picked her up in his arms.

"We will be back Orihara." He promised before running into the trees.

Shizuo and Shinra came out from their hiding spot, "Who was that?"

 **"That was Masaomi, he is the king's right hand man and the captain of the king's guard"**

Shinra was confused now, "Why would they be out here?"

 **"He said they were sent to capture all of the students here. I do not know why though"**

Izaya smirked, "I think you know why Celty. The king must be wanting to play one of his games again."

The humans looked at the kitsune confused. But Izaya just smirked again before walking over to the group of humans still asleep on the ground. He made his way to Shiki and nudged him with his foot while the others tried to wake up Simon, Kadota and Tanaka.

The man in white woke up quickly and glared at the kitsune standing over him, "What?" he growled.

Red eyes sparkled mischievously, "It seems that your plans will need to be adjusted. They have already made the first move" he said before walking back over to his blonde partner.

Shiki glanced over his class and growled in anger before getting up and ordering everyone back onto the bus. This field trip is over.


	14. Chapter 14

**Hello everyone! Here is the next chapter I hope you all like it. Somethings are going to start happening and hopefully some questions you might have will start to get answered. Enjoy.**

 **I own nothing :)**

After making sure that everyone was awake and unharmed, Shiki ordered all of the students to go pack. They would be leaving within the hour.

Shizuo and Shinra and their partners quickly rushed off to their cabin. But, before either of them could open the door Celty pulled both humans back with her shadows. Izaya, who was perched on Shizuo's shoulder, growled lowly before jumping down and pawing the door slightly. The wooden door slowly opened.

"Shinra did you forget to shut the door?" growled Shizuo to his brunette friend.

The doctor in training shook his head while he watched the fox open the door further and slip into the cabin.

 **Izaya is going to check the room. Wait a moment.** Typed Celty as she released them from her shadows.

Shizuo did not like that his partner was going in alone, but he also knew that the threat must not have been too big if Celty was just standing outside. They all jumped when they heard a yelp from inside and Shizuo cracked the wall as he kicked the door open quickly to get to his partner. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw his partner pinning down two small black foxes. Izaya had a paw down on the newcomers' side as he stood over them.

"Izaya?" asked Shizuo confused as the scene, "What's going on?"

Izaya got off of his captives and gave growled slightly earning a small whimper from the two babies. A moment after Shizuo was surrounded by the familiar smoke of Izaya's transformation.

"What are you two doing here?" demanded Izaya in a very serious tone that Shizuo was not familiar with.

In the place of the baby foxes stood two twin girls. One of the girls had a yellow sweater on with a black pleated skirt and glasses. Her sister was dressed in a black sweater with a yellow skirt and short brown hair. Both girls also had similar features of Izaya, with the fox ears on their heads and instead of seven tails they had two.

"Iza-ni… trouble" said the one with short hair and no glasses.

The other girl grabbed her sister into a hug, "Like Kururi said, Iza-ni there was trouble at home and we had to run away."

The older kitsune's red eyes flamed with anger, "What did he do?" he growled, his tails twitching.

Before either of the girls could answer Shinra made his presence known, "What is going on?"

Izaya let out a long sigh, "Shizu-chan, Shinra and Celty these are my sisters, Kururi and Mairu." He said gesturing to the two small girls.

"Are they kitsune too?" asked the blonde.

The girl with glasses laughed, "Wow not too sharp there are you blondie?"

Izaya also gave a small chuckle, "Well seeing as how they are my sisters and they also were foxes just a moment ago, yes they are Shizu-chan"

The blonde growled at being made fun of by the two youkai. Before he could make an annoyed comment Izaya grabbed his sisters quickly and they all changed back into their fox forms in the blink of an eye and the larger black fox shoved his sisters under the bed.

In the next moment a familiar voice called out to the group.

"Hey Shizuo!" called Kadota as he walked into the cabin with Saburo resting on his shoulder as a parrot.

Shizuo shot a look to Izaya who was standing in front of his hidden sisters, "Hey Kadota, what's up?"

The hunter looked around the cabin, "You guys have not started packing yet? Hurry up we want to leave soon"

The blonde shrugged, "Izaya was messing around"

He heard his partner huff and smirked. Kadota shrugged before leaving to finish preparations.

The group turned their attention back to the twins, "We can't leave them here" said Shinra as he looked at them.

"You are not allowed to experiment on them" growled Shizuo as he quickly threw the few clothes he had into his duffle.

Shinra put up his hands in defense, "I wasn't even thinking of that"

The blonde just rolled his eyes before looking down at the twins. They were half the size of Izaya in his fox form and they looked very frightened as they nudged themselves under their brother's tails like a safety blanket.

"Ok well we need to get on the bus" Said Shizuo as he knelt on the ground and opened his duffle bag, "Hop in you two."

When the girls hesitated Izaya nudged them in the butt and they fell into the duffle. After carefully picking up the bag and leaving the top opened Shizuo turned to Shinra who was also packed and they left.

They were already an hour into the drive back home and the students were still terrified of what had happened. Shiki and Simon had been badgered by the students until finally, Shiki stood up at the front of the bus to address everyone as a whole.

"It is time for you to learn your last lesson. We normally save this until you are entered into your profession be that as a hunter, researcher or a teacher." He stated while taking a drag from a cigarette.

"But it seems we cannot wait that long. So I am going to tell you about the king of youkai" this caused a murmur to run through the bus from all of the students while the partners gave the scarred the man stern gazes in return, "you are not to tell the regular population about this. It will only cause chaos if they realized what we were up against. Ignorance is bliss after all" he said before going into the lecture.

"The king of youkai is believed to be immortal, we think he has been alive longer than even our books can confirm. He is a strong youkai and no one has even been able to injure him"

Shiki took another drag from his cigarette to let the first part of his speech settle with the students, "We have discovered over the centuries that we are able to make pacts with youkai, like the ones that you have with your partners. These pacts seem to be the only way to combat the king."

Shizuo looked over to Izaya and saw that he was sleeping peacefully on his seat with no cares. But Shizuo had a sneaky suspicion that the fox was awake and listening to the lecture and also watching over his sisters who were asleep in the duffle below his seat.

"The king has the ability to control other youkai and bend them to his will, as a result many villages and lives have been lost to his power to gather the different youkai. But with the blood pacts they we are able to make with our partners his ability is dulled. Meaning that youkai who are partnered can resist the king's power. Also, youkai who are born abnormally strong are also able to resist his power, if the youkai is strong enough he may even be able to be immune to it" the scarred man said while his gazed locked onto the slumbering fox next to Shizuo.

A girl raised her hand, "So why do we hunt youkai then? If they are being bent against their will, it is not their fault then right? Why not just go straight for the king?"

Shizuo had a sudden thought, "We are not hunting to kill them are we? We are recruiting them."

Shiki smirked at the blonde, "That is correct. The job of a hunter is to seek out strong youkai and get them to join our forces. But when we come across a hostile youkai you might have to kill them to prevent them from attacking human settlements"

"Why don't we just attack him?" asked a boy in the back of the bus.

Shiki's face turned serious, "We tried that once before. Several centuries ago, we had an agent inside the king's court but it was not enough and many died."

All of the youkai looked down or off to the side at this, many had heard what happened to the traitor to the king.

"So would we ever be able to beat him?" asked another student.

Shiki sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, he hated all these questions.

Shinra spoke up this time though, "If he has yet to enslave humans it is safe to assume he has not yet been able to defeat us completely"

The white clad man sighed, glad he had some students with a brain, "Yes, we have up until now been able to keep them at bay. But we have gathered information that tells us the king is planning a war against us"

The students let out gasps of surprise and shock at the news. Simon stood up now and shot Shiki a look.

"All is well. Fighting no good for soul. But defending one's self ok" he said in his broken manner of speaking, "Strong we will be. Learn much we must do"

The students all calmed down at their teacher's funny speaking and words of encouragement. Simon smiled encouragingly to all of the students.

"Be calm now. No bad happen today" smiled the large Russian.

The rest of the bus ride passed in a calm manner thanks to Simon's soothing words. Shizuo and Shinra knew though that this was not going to be something that would just blow over. The king of youkai had already made his first move.

They reached town at around two in the morning. Their parents had already been phoned ahead of time to come and pick them up and informed that there was an accident on the trip. Shinra invited Shizuo over for the night because his dad was gone for the week on a project and he wanted to know more about the twins.

At Izaya's nod of conformation the group made their way to the scientist's house. Once they arrived the blonde placed his luggage on the ground and they all peered in to look at the sleeping baby foxes.

 **They are so cute!** Exclaimed Celty.

Izaya huffed before carefully picking each of his sisters up by their scruff with his teeth and placing them on the floor and then nudging them awake.

"They are welcome to stay here" said Shinra as he squatted down to get a better look at the foxes.

Izaya snapped his jaw at the researcher, causing Shinra to fall backwards on his butt, "Never mind" he chuckled awkwardly.

The male kitsune glared hard at the brunette before nudging the girls again. They woke up yawning cutely and looking up at the humans and dullahan's around them. Quickly the two babies huddled under their older brother to hide from the new people while also looking around curiously.

Izaya seemed to give an eye roll before walking away from them and transforming to his human form. The twins took his lead and changed as well.

"Alright now tell me what happened" Said Izaya as he sat down on one of the couches.

The twins glanced at each other for a second before Mairu took a deep breath and locked eyes with her brother, "The king knows" she said vaguely as she glanced at the other in the room.

Izaya let out a small groan while pinching the bridge of his nose, "How much?"

"All of it" Said Mairu a little scared at what she was telling her brother.

The older kitsune nodded, "I knew it would happen sooner or later. Ok you two will be staying with me."

Shizuo stepped forward, "He how am I going to explain two more youkai in my house?" he growled at Izaya.

The blonde was still planning to offer to the twins that they could stay at his house but he was annoyed that Izaya had not asked him first.

"They will not be leaving the house. So no one will know about them" answered Izaya while glaring at his sisters so they understood that they were not to roam around.

Shizuo just rolled his eyes and flopped down on the couch next to Izaya, "Whatever" he said.

"What are we gonna do Iza-ni?" asked Mairu as she hugged her sister to her side.

Izaya smiled to them gently, "I will handle it. Now why don't you watch some tv?"

The twins nodded and were pulled off to the side by Celty who was showing them how to operate the controls.

Shinra stood in front of the kitsune with his arms folded, "So what did all that cryptic talk mean?"

"Nothing you need to worry about right now."

Shizuo growled at his annoying partner, "Just answer the question"

Izaya laughed, "That is going to cost you Shizu-chan. So until you can pay up then no information will leave my lips." He said with a wink before turning his attention to his host, "Ne, Shinra is there any food here?"

The brunette rolled his eyes at the kitsune's antics before walking into the kitchen, "Yeah I will get something for us to eat."

In a few minutes the doctor in training returned with some left overs and bread. The small group ate silently while they watched a late night TV show.

 **Ok it is almost four in the morning. We need to go to bed.** Typed out Celty as she gathered the dishes to wash.

The twins jumped up to help her clean everything up while Shinra went to get a guest room readied.

"It's a good thing we don't have class tomorrow" sighed Shizuo as he stood up to stretch.

With the new space opened up Izaya stretched out along the length of the couch, "It wouldn't make a difference, you protozoan brain still would be lost in the lectures" chuckled the kitsune.

The blonde growled at the relaxing youkai, "Shut up flea!"

Izaya gave him a blank look, "Flea?"

Shizuo blushed slightly when he realized that his insult was in fact very lame, "Yeah you're a fox, I am sure you are covered in disgusting fleas. It would explain a lot about your terrible personality" he rushed to explain.

A moment ticked by before Izaya let out a hearty laugh, having to clutch at his sides, "you never cease to surprise me Shizu-chan" he chuckled in between fits of laughter.

"Shut up" the blonde retorted before turning around and rushing from the room, "You're sleeping on the couch"

All he got was a snicker in reply. Still blushing from embarrassment Shizuo stormed into Shinra's room, where he saw a futon already laid out on the floor for him. The brunette must be helping the twins get settled, thought the blonde as he took off his t-shirt and got under the covers.

"Do you need anything Shizuo?" asked the brunette as he walked in, already dressed in his pj's.

"Nah. Turn the light out" he grumbled.

"Sure"

The room was dark and Shizuo laid on his back while he stared at the ceiling waiting for sleep to take him.

"Hey Shizuo" called the brunette quietly.

"I'm awake" he replied in a whisper as well.

He could here Shinra roll over onto his side, "I think a lot of things are going to start happening soon"

Shizuo nodded in agreement before he remembered that the brunette could not see him, "Yeah, and that annoying fox seems to be a big player in this"

Shinra shifted again, maybe on his back now like Shizuo, "Yeah, but I don't think Izaya is the only one keeping secrets. You better watch out Shizuo" he warned.

"Why do I need to watch out?"

Shinra chuckled, "Well you are his partner. You are going to get roped into whatever is happening. My Celty and I can drop out of this thing whenever we want. We are only innocent by standers"

Shizuo rolled his eyes, "You have a horrible personality"

"All that matters to me is Celty." He responded before the room went silent again.

Shizuo continued to stare up at the ceiling, he was a little jealous that his friend had someone he wanted to protect so much that he would forfeit everything else. He loved his mother but she could fend for herself and that was a different kind of relationship. Kasuka and Ruri so he wouldn't need his older brother to protect him.

Thinking harder the blonde realized that all of his friends have someone that they all hold closer to themselves than anything else. Eventually the blonde let these thoughts slip away and to get a few hours of sleep.

The sun had only been up for a few hours when Shizuo was woken up by a body falling on him.

"God dammit Shinra! Got off me" growled the blonde.

The brunette quickly sat up when he heard the angry voice of his friend, "Oh, good morning Shizuo."

Now awake and very irritated the blonde got up to use the restroom. When he went out into the living area he saw the brunette already making breakfast. The girls were still asleep. In the living room Izaya was curled up on the couch, his tails wrapped around his body like a blanket.

"Oi, get up" said Shizuo so he could sit down on the couch.

Izaya opened a red eyes lazily, "There is another sofa over there" he grumbled before sitting up a little bit.

Shizuo sat down, "This one is in front of the tv" he stated while grabbing the remote for said device.

The blonde almost jumped out of his skin when he felt a weight drop onto his lap. Looking down he saw Izaya snuggled up on his legs facing his stomach.

"What the hell? Get off me" he glared down at the sleepy fox.

Without opening his eyes Izaya replied, "You woke me up and now I am going back to bed. Leave me alone" then he fell back asleep.

Shizuo held his hands up slightly confused about where to put them with the fox laying on him. He looked down at the slumbering youkai and saw his black ears twitching in his sleep. Very carefully the blonde lowered his hand and gently stratched the appendage and smirked when the fox snuggled onto more comfortably. After a few minutes he was comfortable with Izaya sleeping on his lap and was able to relax into the couch and watch the news.

Shinra came back into the room with a cup of coffee, "Here you go" he said handing the cup off to the blonde.

The brunette looked down to see the sleeping yokai and smirked, "I see you two are getting along"

Shizuo just glared at him as he sipped on his bitter drink. The two males watched TV in silence while they ate some toast that the brunette made.

Celty and the twins came out an hour later all dressed and ready for the day.

"Wow I have never seen Iza-ni asleep" said Mairu and she looked down at her brother.

"…cute..." smiled Kururi next to her sister.

Shizuo felt a little awkward with Izaya's two little sister watching their brother sleep on his lap. He tried to pay attention to the television until Mairu stood in front of it to stare at him.

"You better not hurt Iza-ni" she declared while crossing her arms.

Shizuo huffed, "I am sure your brother can take care of himself"

The little girl did not seem amused, "You guys are partners. So you better look out for each other" she demanded before pulling her sister with her to help Celty in the kitchen.

"You have some interesting sister's" chuckled Shizuo as he pet Izaya's soft hair.

Shinra turned off the tv after a few minutes, "We need to do that write up on the field trip today" said Shinra as he left to grab their backpacks.

After the brunette left Shizuo felt his partner start to stir. The fox turned over onto his back and Shizuo watched as his red eyes slowly opened from sleep. After a moment their gazes connect and the blonde jerked his head to the side. The blonde felt heat spread across his cheeks, thankfully Izaya did not see him blushing because, and he would not be able to explain why.

"Are the others up?" asked Izaya as he stood up to stretch.

But the blonde did not need to answer because Mairu called for everyone to come eat. Thankfully the twins helped with the cooking, they had an edible meal this morning.

"Thanks for cooking" said Shizuo as they started to dig in.

After that the rest of the day passed uneventfully with everyone lazing around and watching tv or the boys having to finish their homework. After lunch time Shizuo decided to head home to introduce the twins to his mom while his dad was still away on his trip.

"You are so adorable!" squealed Sora in delight as she grabbed the twins into a hug.

Izaya laughed at his sister's confused faces while they tried to figure out what was going on.

"So, you are ok with them staying with us?" asked Shizuo smiling at his mom shyly.

Sora released the two girls and beamed a smile, "Of course. We can put them in the guest room. Go get the futons down while I get some snacks ready. Do you girls want to look around the house with Shiuzo and Izaya?" she asked Mairu and Kururi.

The twins nodded and they left to get a tour of the small dwelling.

"You guys can share this room. It is next to my brother's but he is gone often for work so don't worry about disturbing him" said Shizuo as he showed them in.

"Thank you" said Kururi shyly as she looked around the room.

Shizuo smiled at the two girls, surprised that they are related to his horrible partner. After a few more minutes of looking around they found themselves back in the living room with snacks and drinks.

"Your father will be home later tonight. So be prepared" said Sora as she handed out the cups of tea.

Shizuo nodded trying to think of a battle strategy.

"Mrs. Heiwajima, would you mind taking my sister out to go shopping for some clothes? They can go in their animal form to attract less attention. But I think they will need some pajamas at least" said Izaya sweetly from his spot next to Shizuo.

"I would love to! Are you girls ok with that?" she asked.

Mairu also got excited about shopping, "Yes! We can't wait"

Shizuo chuckled, "Of course, all girls can bond over shopping"

His mom sent him a playful glare before turning her attention to the twins and they discussed what they wanted to buy. Shizuo glanced over at Izaya and could see him smiling at his little sisters. So even this guy and care about other people, thought Shizuo with a smirk.

After that they spent the next hour talking about what happened on the field trip and how they met the twins. Sora was upset that something like that had happened on a school trip but was relieved that no one was injured. She glanced at the clock and stood up.

"We should probably leave now so we can be back by dinner. We can stop by the grocery store too" said Sora as she went to the closet.

She came back with two short coats and hats to give to the twins, "There this way we can have fun shopping. These should hide your extra features" she smiled.

Sora's idea worked out great the hats hid the ears and the coats concealed their tails. Luckily it was cold enough outside for it to not be a weird fashion statement.

"We will call you my nieces who are visiting on holiday" said Sora as she grabbed her purse and lead the girls out of the house.

Now left in the house alone Shizuo looked over to Izaya who stood up to gather the dirty dishes. He watched the kitsune as he moved through the room to the kitchen. The blonde starting thinking back to earlier in the morning and how Izaya looked when he was asleep. He had looked so cute and defenseless, thought the blonde. Once again, Shizuo felt his cheeks heating up as he was lost in thought.

"You feeling ok?"

Shizuo jumped off the couch in surprise and almost hitting Izaya in his haste, "uh, what?" he asked dumbly.

"Your face is red. Do you have a fever?" asked the kitsune tilting his head to the side, similar to that of a confused puppy.

The blonde was even more embarrassed now, Izaya has seen him blushing and it was because he was thinking of him.

"Oh, um no I am fine. I am gonna go get my stuff ready for school tomorrow" he said before running up the stairs to his room.

"What an idiot" huffed Izaya as he settled onto the couch.

"Shizuo get your butt down here" growled and angry voice as the front door smashed open.

Kado had just gotten home. Izaya turned around to look at the obviously drunk man and rolled his eyes. This man was annoying. Shizuo, obviously annoyed came down the stares to glare at his father.

"What?"

Kado turned his drunken gaze to his eldest, "Don't get an aditude with me boy."

Shizuo just rolled his eyes before crossing his arms, "What do you want?"

The older of the two threw his beer bottle on the ground causing it to smash into tiny pieces. Izaya who had been watching a movie jumped at the noise slightly.

"Pick that up" ordered the older man.

Shizuo did not move, "Go sober up. Mom will be back soon and she will not want to see you plastered"

"Don't tell me what to do!" growled Kado as Shika held his shoulder to keep him from falling.

Sadly at this moment Sora and the twins returned. Mariu and Kururi were each holding several cloting bags while Sora had the groceries.

"What happened?" asked Sora as she looked at the mess on the floor and her angered son.

Kado turned around to address his wife when he saw the two girls behind her, "Who are they?"

"Guests" Said Sora as she placed herself in front of them without thinking.

"Hey you're the guy from the palace" said Mairu as she pointed at Koda.

Everyone stood dumbstruck for a second. Then in the blink of an eye Shika lunged at the twins. Sora screamed as she grabbed the two girls in her arms to protect them from the youkai. Luckily, Izaya was quick and jumped over the couch to get between them.

The kitsune grabbed the fist coming his way and managed to use his body wait to throw the lizard to the ground. Shizuo was next to his partner's side and helped him to pin down the lizard. Once assured Shika would not get up Izaya was on his feet and holding Koda up by his shirt.

"So you are the one who gave Masaomi his information about the field trip" stated Izaya as he glared at the man.

"What are you talking about?" asked Sora she let go of the twins to observe the situation.

With a disgusted look Izaya threw the man to the ground, "This man gave information to a group of youkai. That information caused them to attack the field trip Shizuo was on."

Koda let out a histerical laugh, "Even if that was true, no one would believe you"

The kitsune smirked, "Mrs. Heiwajima, would you mind calling the hunter Shiki over here pleas?"

Confused, but not willing to agrue with the fox Sora left to go find her phone book.

"Now you two go upstairs and wait there." Ordered Izaya to his sisters who nodded to took off.

Shizuo during this time was still holding down the struggling Shika, "you can let him go Shizu-chan."

The blonde hesistanly got off the lizard before moving to stand next to the fox. Less than a minute later there was knocking at the door before Shiki let himself in with his two youkai.

"Looks like your information was spot on a usual" sighed the white clad man as he observed the scene.

"Wait Shiki, you don't believe him do you?" cried out the frightened Koda on the floor.

Shiki glared at the man, "We have been keeping tabs on you for the last three years. I also, know that you left because of the debt you were in from gambling in the nearby towns."

During this time the two oni had grabbed Shika and was hauling him out of the room. Shiki produced handcuffs to restrain the blonde man.

"It is amazing what a man will do for money. Even if it means putting your son and other children at risk. The council is going to here about this. Don't expect to ever see the light of day again" he growled before pulling him up to his feet.

"but how did you know?"

Shiki smirked before gesturing to the kitsune standing off to the side, "A kitsune is a valuable asset"

Then he dragged out into the street. The household was quiet for a minute before Shizuo whipped around to look at his smirking partner.

"What the hell just happened?" he yelled out surprised.

Izaya laughed at the blonde's confused face, "Sorry Shizu-chan I couldn't tell you at the time. But I have been working for your town generations. Shiki is who I normally do my dealings through. They hired me to help keep an eye out on a guy a few years ago. I didn't know it was your dad until I saw him in the house."

Sora had now come back into the room when she had heard Shiki leave, "So you knew he was giving information to the youkai?"

The kitsune nodded, "Yeah but he never had anything of interest until just recently. The reason he has been gone on assignment the last few weeks was because he had something juicy to give to your adversaries" he chuckled.

Shizuo was still trying to get over the shock that his dad was the reason that they had gotten into the fight with the youkai's guards. The blonde was sitting on the couch and trying to wrack his brain for why he never saw the signs.

"What kind of information?" asked Sora as she sat down as well.

Izaya held out his hands defensively, "I cannot tell you. That information is still too valuable to give away without payment"

Sora nodded in understanding, she was aware how kitsune worked and was not offended. The older woman got to her feet after a moment.

"Ok well I think we could all use something to eat. Mairu and Kururi would you mind helping me?" she called to the top of the stairs were the twins were watching.

Sheepishly the twins came down and agreed to help. Izaya ruffled the twins' hair as the passed earning him a small slap on the hand from Mairu. The red eyed fox turned his attention to his partner who was still on shock on the couch.

"You ok over here Shizu-chan?" he asked as he flopped onto the couch.

The blonde rubbed his hand over his face trying to bring himself to the present, "Yeah. So you are working for Shiki?" he asked offhandedly.

"Yep. Known him since he was little. His family has always been my handlers. You are a very vulnerable town in placement with the woods and mountains around you, so they keep me on retainer to gather information" said the kitsune as he played with the sleeves of his coat.

Shizuo seemed lost in thought for a moment before looked his partner in the eye, "So why did he attack you that day in the woods when we met?"

Izaya chuckled, "Actually we were very surprised that you showed up. He was going to let me go after a few days and claimed I escaped with my kitsune powers."

Shizuo blushed, he had risked his life to save this guy and it wasn't even necessary.

Izaya saw the annoyed look and embarrassed blush so he stopped chuckling and sat up to sit properly, "But having a partnership with you is not all bad. I am learning a lot and it has been very fun" he said with a smile.

Shizuo looked over the kitsune carefully, he has proven his ability to lie so he didn't know if he should trust this sweet act he had going on. But then he realized that Izaya had saved him a few times and that he had already trusted him since the first day they met.

"Yeah I feel the same" said the blonde before he stood up, "I'll be counting on you partner" he said with a wink before walking into the kitchen.

Izaya sat on the couch caught off guard by the blonde's actions. His cheeks taking on a slight pink color. That stupid protozoan thought the kitsune before he got up to follow.


	15. Chapter 15

**Hi all :) Sorry that this chapter is so short but I am having trouble figuring out how I want to transition to the next part. Like I have the ending all figured out, but I don't know yet how I want to get there. But I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

The moon had risen a few hours ago, putting the town into deep silence as everyone settled into bed. Red eyes scanned the road leisurely while leaning against the wall of the local bakery.

"You look like a criminal" growled a dark voice from the alleyway.

Izaya turned to the voice, "You are the criminal here, Mikiya Awakusu"

The yakuza executive came out of the shadows with a scowls on his face, "You had one of my men arrested" he growled.

The kitsune shrugged with a smirk on his face, "I had a client who paid more than you."

The mob boss narrowed his eyes at the fox, "You have just betrayed the yakuza"

Izaya stuffed his hands in his coat, "Pay better next time Mr. Yakuza" he said with a smirk.

The young mobster narrowed his eyes at the snarky kitsune, "Watch out Orihara. Don't think you can get away with playing your own little games for much longer" the man threatened.

The informant pushed himself off of the cold wall with a smirk, his red eyes glinting in the moon light, "Don't worry. The games will be over soon" he said with a chuckle.

Turning his back on the mobster, showing that he did not view him as a threat, Izaya walked out of the alley. Before turning down the street he glanced back over his shoulder to look at the middle aged and scarred man.

"I wonder who the winner is going to be" he stated with a snicker and then was gone in a second.

Beep

Beep

Beeeep

Beee-

Crash

Shizuo groaned at the alarm clock that was now on the floor. He hated Mondays. Hair disheveled and body still groggy from sleep, the blonde sat up in bed. He felt movement next to him and looked to his right to see a familiar black fox curled up to his side.

"Get up" he huffed to the fox as he got out of bed.

Red eyes opened up and levelled the fake blonde with a glare. Shizuo ignored it as he grabbed his clothes for school and went into the bathroom. After a quick rinse and getting dressed Shizuo was not surprised the find Izaya in his human form and relaxing on the bed.

"Why do you always sleep in the bed with me?" grumbled Shizuo as he dried his hair.

Izaya sat up with a smirk, "You cannot expect me to sleep on the floor"

The blonde rolled his eyes at the kitsune and decided to not question it further. He grabbed his backpack and they both went downstairs.

"Good morning" came Sora's happy voice to both boys.

Shizuo responded with a grunt while Izaya replied cheerily to the nice woman. Breakfast passed quickly while the twins begged to go to school as well. But they had to stay at home with Sora, it would be strange it Shizuo showed up with two more partners and they did not want Shiki to know that there were more kitsune in town.

Shizuo and Izaya made it to class fairly early. Shinra and Celty were already in the room and the brunette was nose deep into a textbook. The small black fox looked up to the blonde and Shizuo groaned when he could see the mischievous smile in his red eyes. Before Shizuo could do anything Izaya sprinted across the room and jumped onto the brunette's desk.

"Wha-"squawked Shinra as his book went flying and his notes hit the floor and in their place sat a black fox.

Shizuo quickly made his way over to the small group and plucked Izaya off of the desk by the scruff of his neck.

"You are a menace" growled the blonde as he looked at the fox in his clutches.

The fox rolled his eyes at the statement. Annoyed the blonde shook him a little before turning his attention to Shinra and Celty.

"What were you working on?" the blonde asked while he still held Izaya by his scruff.

The book and notes had already been recovered, "Did you forget what today is?" Shinra asked as he adjusted his glasses.

Izaya cocked his head to the side in confusion then turned his gaze up to the blonde who was also giving a blank look. Shinra looked at the two for a moment before giving off a small laugh.

"Today is the first round of exams"

Shizuo dropped Izaya in his surprise. This was exams week! How did he forget? Shinra chuckled when he saw the reaction. Before Shizuo could even wrap his thoughts around the fact that he is probably going to fail his tests, Shiki walked in with a bored look on his face.

"Sit down. Shut up. Test starts now" he ordered succinctly.

Shizuo fell heavily into his chair before letting out a deep groan. Today was going to suck.

The crisp afternoon wind swept through the school grounds.

"Ugh. I hate school" growled Shizuo as he fell onto his back on the school roof.

Shinra threw his friend a sandwich, "I think most of the student body would agree with that"

The blonde took a big bite out of his sandwich, "I can't believe we have two more days of this"

Celty's shoulder shook in laughter, **you guys will do fine. Just focus on the hunter's exam coming up Shizuo.**

Shinra tried to throw his arms around Celty, "My darling you are so wonderful." He squealed but was pushed off by the woman.

Izaya hopped into Shiuzo's lap and quickly stole a bite of the food before the blonde could react.

"Hey!" exclaimed the blonde as he tried to push the small animal off of him but failed.

Shinra stood up and dusted off his clothes, "Up next is the math portion"

The only blonde on the roof groaned and got up as well, holding Izaya with one arm while the fox finished off the half eaten sadwhich. The next few days passed in a similar fashion.

Friday, last day of school

"Congratulations on graduating. The next step in your journey is going to be a difficult one but many of you will succeed and shine. Good luck to all of you." Announced an elderly man on a podium in front of the graduating class.

Shinra and Shizuo looked over to each other, each holding their diplomas with giant smiles. After the closing remarks from the principal all of the students cheered and began to mingle among themselves.

"Are we still on for celebrating at your place?" asked Shinra as they left the grounds.

Shizuo nodded his head, "Yeah. Mom is working the night shift tonight and Kasuka is still out of town so it's just going to be us"

Sora had called Kasuka to explain what happened with their dad but the actor in his usual fashion did not show too much emotion. It was clear though that he was upset because he had yet to come back home. But Shizuo was not worried because he knew his brother would come around when he was ready.

Celty quickly typed up a message, **Are the twins going to be there?**

Shizuo chuckled while Izaya rolled his fox eyes, "Yeah, not like they can go to work with my mom"

If Celty had a face she would probably be blushing from the embarrassment but the conversation quickly changed to what snacks to get. They arrived at the Heiwajima home in the late afternoon with all of them holding multiple bags, except for Izaya. The black fox seemed to make his mission on the entire walk home to try and trip the blonde by walking between his feet. He had almost succeeded once but Celty used her shadows to catch her friend.

"Izaya cut it out or I will step on you" growled the blonde as they neared the house.

The informant did not listen as he shoved his partner slightly as he pretended to run past him to the house. Shizuo spun around quickly to catch his footing and sent a glare at the fox sitting innocently on the front steps.

"Izaya you look like a domestic dog waiting for your master by the door" chuckled Shinra as he steadied Shizuo with one hand.

The fox growled at the brunette causing Shinra to jump slightly. Shiuzo chuckled at the interaction before walking up the steps himself.

"Good job boy" he said condescendingly as he opened the door, and in return receiving a low growl and nip at his ankle from his partner.

"Shizu-chan" squealed a familiar little girl as she rounded the corner.

The small group shuffled into the house and took off their shoes, "Hey Mairu, we bought snacks" greeted the blonde.

The little girl grabbed the bags from the blonde and quickly looked inside. The other filed into the small house and made themselves comfortable in the living room with snacks and drinks. They decided to start the celebration off with a movie, the twins quickly picked a movie that was sitting on top of the dvd player.

Shizuo examined the case and chuckled, "This is Kasuka's new movie. He must have watched it before he left"

Mairu grabbed the case from the brute and looked at it in shock, "Yuuhei Hanejima is your brother?" she exclaimed excitedly.

The blonde nodded as he put the movie in and leaned back on the couch next to Izaya who had changed back. Celty was in the kitchen with Kururi making popcorn and grabbing glasses. The small girl squeeled in excitement as she hugged the dvd case to her chest.

"I love Yuuhei! Who would of thought he was your brother?!" she said with hearts in her eyes.

Izaya laughed at his sister's excitement while Shizou looked at her concerned. But further conversation was put on hold as everyone settled back into the room and the movie started.

Shizuo tucked a blanket around the twin girls, both of them snuggled up to each other on the couch. While, Izaya saw Shinra and Celty to the door. They had spent the rest of the day and night watching movies and playing games until Shinra had decided to go home and get some sleep. He was going to start his medical training with his dad tomorrow.

"Hard to believe they are related to you" scoffed the blonde when he looked to the kitsune as he entered the room again.

Izaya rolled his eyes while he watched the blonde clean up the room. The raven had been surprised that he had actually enjoyed the night. He had planned on trolling his partner for the evening but had changed his mind and decided to observe the night when he saw how happy the blonde was with his friends.

"You and your brother and more unbelieveable" chuckled the raven as he crossed his arm and leaned against the wall waiting for the blonde to finish.

Shizuo grabbed the last glass and moved the kitchen to finish cleaning up. Izaya flicked off the light after making sure his sisters were asleep and followed his partner. With a sigh he moved over to help the blonde dry the cups in companionable silence.

They finished in a few moments and made their way upstairs after locking doors and windows. Shizuo stripped out of his school clothes and changed into his pajamas before collapsing on the bed. A second later he felt a soft thud next to him, knowing it was his partner he pulled the blanket up and flicked off the lamp next to his bed.

"We are gonna start practicing for the exam tomorrow" Said Shizou as he settled down.

He felt more than heard the low hum Izaya emitted. But Shizuo knew that was an agreement and fell into a deep sleep with the comfortable warmth next to his side.

 **Let me know what you think so far. Next update will be in a month, looking for a new job so that is taking up more of my time than I would want. Thank you to everyone who has been following so far :)**


	16. Chapter 16

**Hello everyone! I tried to make this update longer to make up for the long wait you all had to endure. Please review and let me know what you think :)**

 **I own nothing. Enjoy!**

"Ne Shizuo, what did you have planned for today?" asked Izaya as he sipped on a cup of coffee.

Sora took the twins out on the town for the day to show them around. But the boys knew it was because she enjoyed having two little girls around that she could spoil and gossip with.

The blonde, who was still not very awake, shrugged before taking his empty plate of food to the sink, "Let's go to the training grounds and see what happens."

The kitsune finished his cup and jumped up ready to go. Shizuo groaned at his hyper partner and grabbed his sunglasses before walking out the door with a little fox beside him. The training grounds were empty and the sun was already high in the air.

"Ok, let's do some sparing" suggested Shizuo as he looked down the fox.

After the puff of smoke disappeared Izaya was standing in front of his partner with a smirk in place. Shizuo was surprised to see the raven pull a switchblade from his pocket.

"Where did you get that?" he asked curiously.

The kitsune just smirked before he jumped at the blonde, ready to start the match. Shizuo just rolled his eyes before dodging the attack. They spent the next hour running and jumping around the clearing before calling for a break.

Shizuo sprawled himself out on the grass and enjoyed the gentle breeze. He watched as Izaya inspected his knife for scratches and nicks. He had known that the kitsune used a weapon but he was surprised it was a knife. He just assume a youkai would use a staff or some weird instrument.

"I don't think fighting each other is going to help with working as a team" huffed Shizuo as he rolled onto his side to look at his partner.

Izaya chuckled as he put away the blade, "Of course Shizu-chan. After all your small brain wouldn't think of using these matches as a way to learn how I fight" he said sarcastically.

The blonde's eyebrow twitched at the condescending voice but kept his anger in check. He had to admit that he had only been focused on getting a good work out when fighting with the fox, not really looking at his fighting pattern. But did Izaya have to be so annoying about it?

"Shut up you stupid fox." Growled Shizuo as he stood up from his spot on the ground.

The raven chuckled as he stuffed his hand into his pockets, "So intelligent" he said while rolling his eyes.

Shizuo clenched his fists in rage, "Stop calling me stupid." He yelled at his partner.

Izaya laughed loudly, "Well I can't call you smart. There is nothing else to describe a meat head like you Shizu-chan"

The blonde glared at the fox. His anger was going to be getting the best of him if this conversation continued. But Izaya seemed to want the blonde to go crazy, if his evil smirk was anything to go by.

"Did your last brain cells fizzle out?" chuckled the fox.

Slowly the blonde could feel rage flowing through his body as he tried to hold it back. He hated when the fox made these comments.

Izaya spun around in a happy daze, "Oh yes compared to your intelligent brother you are not much of an achiever. I am sure you would not have passed this last year of schooling if I was not here"

The blonde did not even realize he was lunging at the fox until he felt a small pinch on his chest. Looking down he saw a cut and looked up to see Izaya's knife dripping crimson. The same color as the fox's eyes that gleamed mischievously.

"That was very rude Shizu-chan." he tutted while flipping his knife around. "You are no better than an animal. You are barely even human"

Now Shizuo was lost in his rage. He lunged at the fox again but he was already making his way out of the training fields. The blonde chased the kitsune through the town. Garbage cans and street lights went flying through the streets.

Many of the residents stared in awe as they watched the two play around like they are on a playground. This continued on until the sun started to set. Most of the people had grown used to it after the first hour. After all, Shizuo made sure to not bring other's into their fight and get themselves into trouble. While Izaya hid away his fox appendages with his coat so no one realized it was him.

Izaya was starting to grow bored with attacking the blonde and running away. He was about to call it to an end when just as he was passing by a corner restaurant he was grabbed by his tail. The firm grip pulled him back resulting in the raven letting out a small surprised gasp before he face planted onto the cement.

"Simon!" yelled Shizuo in surprise as he ran towards the two.

The large Russian grabbed Izaya by the hood of his jacket and pulled him up onto his feet, "Fighting no good. Come eat sushi. Nice to meet you Izaya" he said happily as wrapped his arm around the fox's neck and dragged him inside.

Surprised Shizuo followed the two inside and went to sit at the booth that Simon pushed his partner into. He handed the two confused males menus before promising to come back in a few minutes for their orders.

Shizuo looked over to his partner and almost was barely to hold back a laugh. The fox looked like a pouting teenager as he played with napkin on the table.

"What do you want to order?" Shizuo asked as he looked through the options.

Izaya didn't stop tearing up the napkin as he answered, "Fatty tuna"

The blonde glared at him that was the most expensive item on the menu. But when Simon came back he ordered it. They sat in an awkward silence while they waited for their food. This was the first time they had went anywhere by themselves like this and the blonde did not know what to do now.

He looked over at Izaya who was done shredding up his napkin it seemed. The kitsune was staring out the window with a small smirk on his face. The blonde glanced outside and could see a lot of people walking around going about their lives.

"Is people watching that exciting?" asked the blonde.

Izaya chuckled lightly as he turned his attention to the blonde, "It is a wonderful observing people"

Shizuo couldn't see the appeal, "How?"

Izaya looked out the window again and pointed out a man in suit, "That guy is having an affair"

Surprised at the bold statement Shizuo looked at the man, but he could not see anything that stood out to make such a claim. The kitsune took a sip of his cup of water before explaining.

"He has a tan line from where his wedding band should be. But he is not wearing it."

The blonde rolled his eyes, "Or he had a divorce and took it off"

"I would believe that if he was not pulling out his wedding ring from his pocket and putting it on"

Looking over they watched as the business man did exactly that. Shizuo was surprised at the kitsune's ability to figure that out so quickly. Most people would not have noticed a person they did not know doing something like that.

"Why do you care if he is cheating?" he asked.

Izaya's eyes gleamed, "It is fun to figure out why a man or woman would do something like that. Did his partner get fat? Did she cheat on him? Is he actually gay?"

Shizuo hummed in thought, it almost seemed like a game to the kitsune. "OK so what do you do when you find out all those answers?"

"That is where the fun begins. Either I could play around with the man and tell him I know. Or tell his wife. Then sit back and watch the fallout" said the fox excitedly.

"Why do you care what happens?" Asked the blonde still not fully understanding his partner's mindset.

Izaya let out a long sigh like he was daydreaming, "Humans are such wonderful creatures. No matter what you do to them you can always expect a wonderful reaction. They are so easily manipulated"

Shizuo did not like the sound of that. But he knew that his partner was weird and decided to leave the conversation at that. No point and trying to figure out how a crazy person thinks.

Dennis came by in the next minute with two plates of food.

"You work here?" asked Shizuo confused he had never heard of a youkai partner working.

The werewolf chuckled, "It was actually my idea to open this place. Simon just works in the front" he said as he placed the orders in front of them and went back to the kitchen.

Just as the two were about to start eating they heard a loud squeal. Shizuo jumped and dropped his chopsticks in surprise. The two turned to the sound of the noise and saw a familiar brunette girl ogling them with hearts in her eyes.

"Is this Izaya?!" Erika screeched in joy.

Poor Walker who was floating next to her was trying to calm her down. He had a feeling this was not going to end well.

Izaya groaned at this, he did like all humans but this girl could be a headache if he was not prepared to deal with her. "Hello" he said with a small wave.

The girl was not phased as she ran up to them and easily pushed Izaya further into the booth to sit with them. The kitsune quickly pulled his tails out of the way before she could sit on them and sent her a dark glare.

"Erika leave them alone" came the slightly worried voice of Kadota as he walked up to their booth.

The girl was not going to be deterred easily. Shizuo let out a long sigh as he also slid over to let his friend sit next to him. Saburo, who was a mouse, snickered from his place on Kadota's shoulder because he knew how ridiculous Erika is.

"So are you guys an item? Who is top?"

Izaya choked on his glass of water while Shizuo dropped his next bite of food. Kadota looked quickly between the two males to see if either of them were going to attack the crazy girl.

"You either eat or leave" growled Shizuo without answering either of her questions.

She quieted down her excitement and rescinded herself to watching them and get the answers for herself. Satisfied that the girl had calmed down the group decided to talk about more normal topics like what they did during the week and more mundane things.

"Hey Izaya I heard a rumor on my last mission about kitsune. Is it true you can change your gender?" asked Kadota when Simon came to gather their dishes.

Shizuo spit out his soda in surprise then looked to his partner dumbfounded. Izaya paused for a moment to figure out what he wanted to say then gave out a deep sigh and frowned at Kadota.

"When I change into a human I can choose between a female or male. But I prefer being a male" he answered.

Erika was excited to hear about this, "Can you choose what you look like? So you could be tall or short, blonde or brunette?"

Izaya nodded, annoyed that he was answering these questions. But he knew if he did not then it would be worse for himself later on. He sent a glare to Kadota who smiled sheepishly.

"So do you like boys or girls?" asked Walker who had been floating next to Erika during the meal.

Izaya placed his now empty glass on the table, "While I am a male fox, I do not particularly care for what gender my mate would be."

Kadota seemed to be in thought for a second, "You would probably not be able to find someone who would like your personality" he chuckled.

Izaya just shrugged at the comment, he has been aware for centuries that he would not be able to have a mate because of his strange habits. Not that he cared, he is a youkai and did not need to have a weakness like a lover that could be taken advantage of.

Shizuo had reached the end of his patience for this awkward conversation, "Well it is time to go back home."

The brunette human nodded and got up to let Shizuo out of the booth with the others following behind as they went to pay their bill to Simon.

Kadota nodded, "I will see you on exam day. Good luck" Kadota said while nudging Erika towards a van parked down the street a little ways.

Shizuo knelt down to his fox partner, "OK, I curious how fast you are a fox. Race you home" he said before running off.

He heard and annoyed bark behind him but in less than a second he felt his partner next to him. By the time they got home the moon had been up for a long while. Sora and the twins were already in bed by the time the two barreled into the house.

"Damn, how are you so fast?" huffed Shizuo as he tried to gain his breath back.

Instead of answering the fox easily pranced up the stairs. Shizuo followed slowly behind, the run had taken a lot out of him. He was going to need to run more often. Tomorrow would put them a day closer to the hunter's exam and they need to get prepared.

Exam Day

"Welcome to this year's Hunter's Exam" called out a loud voice over the intercom.

The complex that the exam was held in was the same used for soccer matches. All of the participants will be watched by whomever wants to watch. Depending on their results those who pass can be given private offers from companies or be given a mission from the hunter's organization.

Shizuo stood down on the field with Izaya sitting by his side. There were twenty other pairs including themselves. The blonde watched the other groups, some of them he recognized from school but others are older and had probably failed a couple of times already.

In the middle of the field was a platform that seemed to be were the judging would be done from. The stadium was getting full of spectators and Shizuo had a feeling that would start the exam soon. Izaya let out a loud yawn before jumping to his feet and running off from Shizuo's side.

"Hey, Izaya" Shizuo called after the fox but he was already gone.

The blonde just rolled his eyes and stayed where he was, he knew that Izaya would come back eventually. An old man walked onto the stage a few minutes later and everyone in the stands quieted down as he got ready to speak into the microphone.

"Hello, my name is Jinnai Yodogiri. I will be one of the three judges for this exam and wish all participants good luck. This exam will be different from years past. It will only have one stage that is sudden death." Murmurs broke out through the arena from the competitors and the spectators.

Shizuo narrowed his eyes at this, this was a big change and he didn't know how he felt about it. But everyone quieted down again when another man walked out onto the stage. Shizuo heard a small growl and looked down to see Izaya next to him again but was confused about the reaction to the man on stage.

The man was young and seemed to be powerful from the way he walked, "I am Mikiya Awakusu and the second judge. Your task is to retrieve a box from the woods surrounding the town. We will give you the details in a little bit. You are to stay in the section of woods delegated for this examination and will have a maximum of seven days. Those who do not complete the task will fail and have to reapply next year. You will be taken from here to the woods directly and will have to survive with what you have with you now and off of the land." He said at length.

The whispers began again. After a minute a dozen certified hunters walked into the arena and directed the competitors towards the woods. Kadota approached Shizuo with a smile.

"Here is a file on the details of what is expected and what you are looking for" said Kadota as he handed it over.

Shizuo nodded as he opened the folder, "So this is like a mini mission and we are trying to see if we can complete a task given to us?"

The brunette man nodded, "Yep. Good luck." He said before walking away.

The speakers set up in the trees buzzed to life, "Your time limit starts now." Rang out the elderly voice of Yodogiri.

It had started raining less than hour into the test and Shizuo was not at all happy. The sun would be starting to set soon and it was going to get cold.

"We should find somewhere to rest for tonight and make a plan for tomorrow" suggested the blonde.

Izaya let out an agreeing bark before trotting ahead of his partner to look for a place to sleep. Shizuo followed close behind while trying to keep the folder with all the information he needed dry under his shirt. A half mile further Shizuo heard Izaya's bark and followed the noise.

"Nice work" said the blonde when he saw the large tree with an open trunk at the base.

It was dry inside and Shizuo quickly made himself at home. Izaya turned around and ran back into the woods once he saw the blonde into the tree. Shizuo was confused at first but had learned that Izaya always came back so there was no need to worry about his partner.

The rain started to get heavier after only a few minutes of being in the tree and the blonde was thankful Izaya had found it or he would be even more miserable. If only he had an extra set of clothes because his were now very uncomfortable. After about another half hour the sun was close to completely setting and Shizuo could barely see Izaya running towards him in the underbrush.

"What were you up to?" he asked the fox when he got into the dark tree.

In the next moment Shizuo felt the fox next to him change into his larger shape, "Got us some dinner" came the familiar voice.

Shizuo shifted over slightly so he was not so close to the raven who was soaked. The sun was now completely set and it was pitch black in the tree. But before Shizuo could comment on it he saw a flare of light and in the next moment a small fire was burning near the mouth of the tree.

"Should we have a fire? What if someone sees us?" asked Shizuo a little concerned.

Izaya shrugged out of his drenched coat, "Don't worry I already looked around the area. No one is close to us."

The blonde was impressed with the kitsune forethought. But then his attention was draw to the two fish laying on the ground.

"Could you cook those?" asked Izaya as he tried to ring the water out of his coat.

The strong teen nodded and started preparing the fish for dinner. He glanced over at Izaya who was now reading through the folder that Kadota had given them.

"So we need to find this box while also fighting off competitors and the instructors" observed the fox once he was done.

Shizuo nodded while rotating the fish over the fire to cook, "Yeah. Where do you think it could be?"

Izaya pulled out the map they were given and held it up to the fire to get a better look, "We already covered this whole area today" he said gesturing to the bottom right corner of the map, "Humans are pretty predictable so I will guess that it is in the middle of the area and guarded"

Shizuo nodded in agreement to that. But the exam area was huge and would probably take them all day tomorrow to even get close to the middle of it. So the day after that they would probably be fighting off people before they could even start looking for the box.

"I think the fish is done" called Izaya as he put the papers away.

Shizuo looked down to see the fish starting to burn and quickly pulled it out of the fire. He handed one off to the fox before leaning back against the wall of the tree. It wasn't much of a meal for the growing male but it was better than nothing.

"I hope the rain stops soon" grumbled the blonde as he picked at his shirt.

Izaya tossed the bones from his meal out into the rain before easily taking his long sleeve black shirt off. Shizuo gaped at the fox.

"What are you doing?" he asked surprised.

The kitsune placed the shirt and jacket carefully next to the fire, "Letting my clothes dry. If it bothers you I will keep my pants on" he chuckled before leaning against the opposite wall of Shizuo.

The blonde hesitate a moment before taking off his own shirt and placing it next to the fire. He was still kind of unsure how to act around the fox because of the conversation they had had at Simon's shop a few nights ago and learned that Izaya could have interest in men. But youkai are different than humans so it shouldn't be too strange. After all it should be stranger that Izaya can turn into a fox.

"Go ahead and rest Shizu-chan. I will keep watch for tonight" said the raven after a few minutes.

Shizuo didn't realized how exhausted he was until Izaya brought it up. So he quickly took up the offer and was in the world of dreams in a less than five minutes.

The next morning the rain had stopped thankfully and their clothes were dry. Shizuo and fox Izaya, started on the long hike towards where they think the box is that they are supposed to get.

"Izaya, let's take a break for a minute" said the blonde as they approached a small stream.

They quenched their thirst and snacked on the few berries in the area. Shizuo was hating this exam so far. But it was still better than any written test he would have had to take.

The blonde stood up from the trunk he had been sitting on. But was surprised when Izaya tackled him into the ground quickly after. The blonde grabbed the fox by his scruff and ready to throw him off of himself when he saw two figures walk into the small clearing.

"Well looks like we found the son of that traitor" sneered a man.

He was young, early twenties and oiled black hair. Strangely though, he was wearing a suit and did not seem to look as dirty as Shizuo. So this man must be one of the hunters used to test the participants thought the blonde as he got to his feet.

"Who are you?" asked Shizuo as he cracked his knuckles to get ready for a fight.

The man continued to sneer at him and when he spoke Shizuo could see that his teeth were razor sharp, "The name is Takaaki Kazamoto and your dad owed me a lot of money"

The blonde rolled his eyes the comment, "I am sure my dad owes a lot of people money"

Kazamoto glared at the teen before turning his attention to his companion. The other figure stepped out of the shadow of the trees to relieve another shadow. Confused the blonde looked around and did not see any person that was giving off the dark shape.

Izaya, who had been by his side stepped forward and growled lowly in warning. The shadow, which was in the shape of a tall man morphed into a fox. The shadow slowly approached the kitsune. Izaya stepped in front of Shizuo defensively and his tails spread out like that on the head of a viper. The shadow copied the movement.

"What is that?" asked Shizuo as he watched the two foxes size each other up.

Kazamoto watched the foxes as well with an evil grin on his face before looking towards the blonde, "That is a shadow. I named it Shinichi Tsukumoya"

The teen did not really know what a shadow could do. But he did not see it as super powerful because all it was doing was irritating Izaya it seemed. Kazamoto seemed to sense the blonde's thought before giving off a small laugh. When Shizuo looked to him in confusion the man snapped his fingers with a menacing glint in his eyes.

Quicker than he could blink his eyes Shizuo heard Izaya yelp in pain. The blonde looked over to his partner only to see blackness.

"Izaya!" the blonde called out in confusion when he heard another pained noise.

He couldn't see anything through the eternal darkness. Right behind him he heard a piercing laugh. He whipped around and could still not see anything. Growing enraged the blonde ran forward, trying to see if he could find the man or Izaya.

A few steps forward and he bumped into someone. He grabbed Kazamoto's shoulder in a crushing grip, he could feel a bone snap. But surprisingly he did not hear a yell of pain, instead it was that man's laugh that echoed around him.

"You find this funny?" growled the blonde he pulled back his fist and punched the man in the stomach, causing him to hunch over.

This time he did not get a laugh in response. Please that he quieted the man the blonde grabbed one of his arms and pulled him towards himself and wrenched up behind the smaller man's back. Effectively trapping him and keeping him from getting away.

"Where the hell is Izaya?" he demanded into the man's ear.

The man did not reply and instead tried to struggle against the blonde's hold. Shizuo pushed his left arm around the man's neck and the small male stilled instantly.

"Tell me where the fox is or I will break your arm" snarled the blonde as he twisted the captive arm tighter.

The man arched his body to try and relieve stress on his arm and neck. The other man grabbed the blonde's arm that was around his neck and helplessly trying to pull it away. But he did not tell Shizuo what he wanted. The blonde gave a quick twist and he felt the bone snap in the other man's arm. The smaller body writhed in pain against the blonde.

Laughter broke out around them. Shizuo felt the rage boiling inside of him as the man laughed from the pain he was receiving. He held the arm tighter to try and persuade the man to tell him what he wanted to know instead of laughing.

He was irritated with everything right now. He couldn't see through the darkness surrounding him. He couldn't find his partner and the only person who knew where he was laughing at him. He was also starting to get irritated with whatever was wrapping itself around his body. Annoyed with what was circling around him the blonde reached down to throw it off and felt something familiar.

Wrapping itself around him was something very soft. It was familiar and warm. A sudden thought struck Shizuo and he followed the appendage and found that it lead to the man he was holding in a choke hold. At that moment the laughter broke out again.

Kazamoto chuckled, "Is this how you always treat your partner?"

In the next moment their surroundings exploded with light and sound. Shizuo released the body against him as he shielded his eyes against the sun. When he recovered he uncovered his eyes and froze. On the ground and struggling to regain his breath was a bruised and bloody Izaya. He was on his knees with one hand rubbing his sore throat while the other hung awkwardly by his side.

Shizuo dropped to his knees next to his partner, "Izaya!"

Kazamoto stepped out from behind a tree and sneered at the sight before him, "You couldn't even tell that you were holding your partner?" he asked condescendingly.

The blonde wrapped his arm around the injured kitsune's shoulders protectively. The instructor leaned on a tree leisurely with his arms crossed while he observed the pair.

Izaya finally regained his breath and shrugged Shizuo's arm off as he rose to his feet shakily. The blonde was close to follow and watched the kitsune carefully.

"Ne that was a neat trick. But you won't get me again" he said with a glared as he summoned a ball of fire in his palm.

Kazamoto raised his eyebrows slightly, "Interesting I have never seen a kitsune in a human form before. This will be a good time to gather information" he stated before glancing off to the side.

Hiding in the shadows was Shinichi. Izaya smirked before throwing the fireball into the tree's shadows and catching a few of the limbs on fire. Kazamoto chuckled.

"That is not going to work"

Izaya ignored him as he continued to throw fire balls around the clearing. Shizuo watched on confused, even he could tell that this was not working. After continuing this for a few moments Shizuo watched as the kitsune started to sway slightly and was caught off guard when the fox leaned against him.

"Hey protozoan" whispered the Kitsune harshly as he continued to attack the clearing for the shadow.

Shizuo placed his hand on the small of Izaya's back to help steady him, and grunted in response as he looked around for the shadow.

"Stop standing there like an idiot and do something" growled the fox.

The blonde looked at him confused, "What do you expect me to do? I can't fight a shadow and your fire is barely helping."

Izaya glared hard at the blonde, "You don't need to fight the shadow" he said before pushing off the larger male and attacking with gusto.

The blonde watched on confused as the kitsune jumped around and using his yoki. Shizuo looked over to the hunter that was watching on lazily. The fire was slowly staring to eat away at half of the clearing and then Shizuo noticed something, the shadow was not approaching his partner.

Then the blonde understood. Quickly he grabbed a tree and ripped it up from its roots. Before the other human knew what was happening Shizuo had already hit him with the tree and slammed into another. Before the blonde could swing again the shadow appeared in front of him ready to defend his partner.

"Looks like we win this match. If you continue to fight us then the fire while kill your partner, after all you don't have a physical body to move him" said the kitsune as he held his injured arm carefully.

The shadow seemed to consider this before shifting backwards to show its defeat. Izaya gave a sigh before using his yoki to get rid of the fire to prevent any more damage. Shizuo eyed the shadow carefully, not fully trusting it.

"Is that it?" asked the blonde as his partner turned to walk out of the clearing.

Izaya quickly turned around and glared at the blonde, "Yes you Neanderthal. That thing couldn't fight us because of the danger his partner was in. Now let's get back on track and finish this stupid test" he said irritatingly.

Shizuo nodded dumbly at his partner's outburst. Normally the kitsune would be gloating about how much of an idiot the blonde was. But instead the fox was irritated.

"Hey are you going to change back? What if someone else sees you?" asked the blonde, he didn't know if it mattered anymore that Izaya stay as a fox but he would rather avoid trouble with Shiki.

"Did you forget that I have a broken arm? Would be kind of hard to walk with that as a fox" sneered the kitsune as his red eyes glared hard at the blonde.

Shizuo jumped when he realized he had forgotten. Now he was mad at himself, how could he have forgotten that he had broken his partner's arm and choked him? Without thinking the blonde quickly grabbed the kitsune and pulled him into his arms. Izaya froze at the contact but did not react otherwise.

Shizuo tucked his partner's head under his chin while still being careful of the broken arm, "Sorry" he said softly.

Izaya's eyes widened at the contact and apology before he recovered and smile slightly. He rested his cheek lightly on the blonde's chest for a second. One of his tails wrapped around the blonde's waste before he pulled away with a smirk.

"Are you sure your human Shizu-chan?" snickered the raven.

The teen rolled his eyes as he released his hold on his partner, "Shut up. Now turn into a fox. I will carry you the rest of the day so you can recover."

Izaya looked at him surprised, "Do you even know where you are going?"

Shizuo growled, "I can read a map" he said defensively as he pulled the folded paper out of his pocket.

The kitsune seemed to consider it for a moment before giving a deep sigh, "Very well. If Shizu-chan wants to be a white knight then who am I to stop him" he said with a wink before he transformed into a familiar black fox.

Shizuo knelt down to his partner gently picked him up and carefully arranged him into his arms. Mindful of his partner's injuries the blonde began to walk towards the middle of the testing ground with a dozing fox in his arms.

 **Finals are next week and spring break is the week after. I will try to update during the break but if it does not happen it will be sometime next month. R &R :)**


	17. Chapter 17

**Sorry it has been so long. But this chapter was really hard to write. I could not figure out what I wanted to do next. So I am sorry if this is not very good but I decided to just go with the most recent edit, otherwise I will drive myself crazy.**

 **I own nothing.**

 **Enjoy.**

Day three of the exam leaving them with only four more days to pass or fail.

Shizuo had made it to the middle of the testing grounds before finding shelter up a tree the previous night. Now Izaya was wide awake and looking over the map while the blonde brute snored away.

"What's the point of hiding up a tree if your snores so loud" grumbled the kitsune as he glared at Shizuo.

With no reply the raven rolled his eyes as he glanced around the woods again. The sun had barely broken over the horizon and the morning dew still clung to the vegetation. When he saw no threats the youkai examined his arm. The brute had really done a number on it yesterday, his shoulder had been fractured along with the broken arm. But luckily he was able to use his yoki to heal it most of the way so now all he felt was a dull pain if he moved it the wrong way.

Izaya had his fingers crossed that they would be able to finish this stupid exam by the end of the day. He wanted to check up on his sisters soon, they were still getting used to a human settlement and he did not want them getting into trouble.

"How long have you been up?" called a groggy voice.

Izaya felt the branch he was sitting on shift as the blonde readjusted himself in an upright position, "Long enough to know that you snore like a bear" he quipped.

Too tired to care about the comment the blonde easily jumped off the branch and stretched out his sore limbs. Sleeping in a tree was more uncomfortable than he had thought it was going to be.

He looked up to the kitsune that was still perched in the tree, "How is your arm?" he asked with obvious guilt in his voice.

Izaya just rolled his eyes before gracefully landing on the ground next to his partner, "I am not as breakable as you seem to think I am" he said hotly before looking around bushes for some berries to eat.

Not willing to pick a fight the blonde just sighed as he helped himself to his breakfast of berries.

"I want to finish this thing today so let's go" said the blonde after the two were sated and started to walk further into the woods.

They hadn't even gone over a plan yet on how to get this stupid box but the blonde was already walking forward. The kitsune shrugged before following along after all, just going with the flow is not always a bad idea.

"Is this really the best you humans could come up with?" deadpanned Izaya when they reached the clearing where they were supposed to receive their item.

In the clearing, the box that they were trying to recover for the exam was sitting on top of a stump. The stump was surrounded by a moat and in the air was a series moving traps to prevent anyone from just swooping in and taking the item. Izaya was not impressed, he had seen better traps when he was pup.

Shizuo did not seem to be of the same opinion as he tried to figure out how they were supposed to get through the daunting obstacles. The moat was way too long for them to jump over and Shizuo did not know what to use to connect the two sides.

Izaya pinched the bridge of his nose in disappointment and annoyance. This was an embarrassment if this was how the humans tested to see if they were worthy to chase after youkai. Who cared if you could get across a moat? What these humans should be testing is if these up and coming hunters could even track down a youkai. Not follow a map and with the final destination circled for them.

"Oh for god's sake." Said the youkai exasperatedly as he watched the blonde look down into the moat and see what was in it.

Shizuo was not impressed with his partner's attitude or comment, "Well do you have any ideas?"

"Throw me" was all the kitsune said before turning into a fox.

It took the blonde a moment to understand what he wanted and then it seemed like the light bulb went off before he gently picked up the fox, "You better hope I don't miss" he chuckled.

The fox rolled his eyes. Shizuo wound up his arm like a baseball pitcher and then threw his partner towards the small box on the stump. Izaya flipped himself over before landing calmly on his feet and turning back to his humanoid form.

"Good toss Shizu-chan" chuckled the kitsune before peeking into the box.

Shizuo paled, "Hey we can't look in the box. It says so in the folder" he was afraid that they would be disqualified.

Izaya shrugged before closing the lid, "We have to make sure this is what we are after. What would you do if you found out we brought back the wrong box and failed?"

The blonde could see the logic in this but was still not happy with his partner's actions, "you better hope we don't get in trouble or I will kill you"

"That will just prove you are a monster" chuckled the kitsune as he backup to the edge of the small island and placing the small box in the pocket of his coat, "No go be a monster and rip up a tree so I can walk across"

Shizuo glared at the way his partner talked to him but followed his directions. Within a few minutes he had uprooted a small tree and used it to connect the two side of the moat for Izaya to easily walk across.

"Ok so now what?" grumbled the blonde.

The mission file they had been given ended at retrieving the item and did not explain how to end the test. In the corner of his eye he could see his partner start to head towards the direction the had come from.

"Now we just have to head back" said the kitsune easily.

Shizuo was confused, "What? Why? Where?"

The raven gave an amused look, "Our assignment is to retrieve. Meaning he need to bring this back to its owner" He said why twirling the small almost jewelry sized box in his hand.

Shizuo chuckled, "Of course a dog would know how to retrieve"

Not at all happy with comment Izaya flicked a small fire ball at his partner before scowling as he walked away. Shizuo was not put off at all as he continued to chuckle and stayed a safe distance behind the ruffled fox.

"It's really strange that we have not met anyone else" stated Shizuo as they walked through the woods.

Almost like they were waiting for the statement a group of youkai surrounded them. Izaya who was now in his fox form growled and bit Shizuo on the leg.

"Ouch! Hey, it's not my fault" he said as he pulled his injured limb away from his annoyed partner.

One of the youkai, who resemble a stunted dragon, stepped forward, "You have completed the first task" it stated before using a speed so quick that when Shizuo blinked the youkai was in the air with raging fox in his claws.

"Now your next task is to make a choice. Complete the mission on your own or save your partner instead" it said before flying away.

Shizuo was still stunned by what happened until he was knocked out of his stupor by a punch in the face. He looked around himself and counted five youkai who all looked to be from some kind of plant origin. Annoyed and not wanting to deal with these guys the blonde made quick work of grabbing a tree and thrashing them all.

Now with some time to think the blonde thought about what the ugly dragon said. If the blonde was to complete the mission then he would be abandoning Izaya but if he abandoned the mission then he would never be a hunter. Just then Shizuo realized something as he felt around his pockets and looked around the forest floor around himself.

Izaya had the box. That stupid kitsune who let himself get caught had the box. Which means Shizuo would not be able to complete the mission. Now he had to go and look for that annoying fox and hope that he found him in time to finish the exam. With a frustrated yell the blonde started to run in the direction he saw his partner taken away in.

The fox was dropped onto a cave floor and he glared up at the youkai.

"Strange to see a kitsune partnered with a human" observed the kidnapper.

Izaya transformed so he could communicate with this thing easier, "Not as strange to see a dwarf dragon on this side of the mountains"

The youkai glared at the fox but Izaya seemed unconcerned as he lazily relaxed against the cave wall.

"You are not worried about your partner abandoning you?"

The kitsune chuckled, "nope, that dumb protozoan will by in a little while. Good thing you took me closer to the entrance now I don't have to walk as far" snickered the fox.

While being flown over the forest he could see where he was as well as, how close they were to finishing this exam. Judging by how far he was flown and how quickly the blonde would probably run in pursuit, the raven guessed Shizuo would be here by nightfall at the latest.

The dragon looked at him in confusion but the fox was not going to explain himself, after all this was much more amusing. The proctors it seemed, assumed that only the human half of the partnership would hold onto the item once it was secured. They did not consider if the youkai partner had the item as was spirited away would leave the human with only one choice to make instead of having to pick between several options. It was quite humorous how simple they were, observed Izaya while he waited patiently.

Of course, it would start to rain. That annoying fox was going to get an earful when Shizuo got him back. What kind of youkai let's himself get captured so easily? It was almost embarrassing.

The blonde paused in his running for a second, "I bet that fox let it happen of purpose" he growled to himself before picking up his run again.

He could smell that evil stench that he associated with his partner getting stronger. Izaya would probably make fun of him if he knew the blonde was tracking him through smell especially in the rain. The sun was almost on the verge of setting and would leave him with only three more days to get back to the start and he had no clue where he was in this forest anymore.

He hoped Izaya would be able to navigate them back to where they needed to be or they would fail. He was coming up on a cave and decided he would check it out to see if his partner was there. Slowing down slightly and creeping as silently as he could the blonde peered into the cave and saw the dragon but not the fox.

"Took you long enough Shizu-chan" came that annoying voice from within the cave.

The dragon was quickly in battle mode and ready to fight off the human. But before the battle could start he was swiftly knocked out from behind by the smirking kistune.

"That was disappointingly easy" said the fox dejectedly as he stood in the mouth of the cave.

Shizuo could only nod in agreement before pulling his partner out into the rain and away from the youkai. Once they were a safe distance away in case it woke up Shizuo stopped to regroup.

"Do you know where we are?" he asked.

"The woods"

The blonde growled at his partner, ready to strangle him before the kitsune chuckled and ran away from him. Annoyed, tired and wet Shizuo quickly gave chase wanting to beat up the too happy fox. He had spent half the day chasing his partner down only for him to goof around and waste time. They ran through the woods with Izaya's annoying laugh cutting through the rain only to further irritate the teenager.

The reached an opening and Shizuo saw his partner slowly making his way to the opposite side. With a smirk the blonde let out a sudden burst of speed gained ground on the fox not realizing why he was slowing down. With a triumphant grunt the blonde tackled the fox through the line of trees and into the ground ready to beat him up, until he heard a cannon go off. He looked up and realized that the clearing they had run into was really the ending of the exam.

"Get off you brute" growled the kitsune as he kicked the blonde off of himself.

Shizuo had the decency to look sorry for quick second before glaring at the fox. How was he supposed to know that he was leading him to the end? They would need to work on their communication thought the blonde with an annoyed growl as they both got to their feet and tried to wipe the mud from their clothing.

During their exchange they had not realized that a series of whispers had broken out among the crowd and proctors.

"What's their problem?" asked Shizuo as he looked around as several people pointed at them, "They never seen mud before?"

Izaya chuckled from his side, "I think it might have to do with my appearance"

Then the blonde remembered that they had been purposefully having the kitsune stay in his fox form in public so as to not add anymore attention to themselves. Most people thought that the fox was just an animal spirit with fire capabilities. Great, now they were going to have to deal with the kistsune hating people of the town. Thankfully they already had some allies who had already met Izaya in his humanoid form.

"Well done" came an elderly voice of the judge Yodogiri as he approached the two.

Next to Yodogiri, the young Awakusu smirked down at them. Shizuo for some reason did not like young judge and it became an even strong feeling when he saw Izaya tense slightly next to him. He would have to ask him about that later.

"Now hand over the item and you will be done" said the young leader as he held out his hand.

Shizuo looked to the fox who pulled it out of his coat pocket. He walked towards the two men but instead of handing it to them he walked past them and walked towards a young blonde girl who was standing just behind them.

"I believe this is yours" said the fox as he placed it in her hand and turned around and walked back to his partner.

Everyone was silent for a second waiting to see what the judges would say. Shizuo looked to his partner in confusion but held his tongue for now.

Yodogiri and Mikiya looked at each other before turning their attention back to the blonde and youkai.

"We will announce the results after the seven days have completed. You will remain in the lodging provided until the end of exam ceremony" said Jinnai before turning to walk away with the blonde girl who received the box from Izaya.

Mikiya stepped forward towards the two competitors and gave Shizuo a warm smile, "Good work so far. Here is a key to the hotel room you will staying in. Kadota will show you the way" he said before turning his attention to Izaya.

"Filth like you should not approach humans so easily like that again. Remember that youkai" he growled at the fox before turning to follow the other judge.

Shizuo was surprised at the hostility in the man's words and was about to reach out and grab him when Izaya held him back with a small shake of his head. Before the blonde could ask about it they saw a familiar person approach.

"Hey good work you guys" he said with a friendly smile, Saburo was a parrot on his shoulder who echoed his comment, as he lead them out of the rain.

They went to the hotel that was nearby the testing grounds and Shizuo could feel all of the stares directed at him and his partner. Kadota seemed to sense this as well because he took them around the back to avoid most of the on lookers.

"Looks like you guys are going to be the talk of the town for a while" he chuckled.

Shizuo groaned at the idea of it, he liked it better when everyone would pretend he did not exist. They boy with crazy strength and a horrible anger management problem encouraged others to not interact with him.

Kadota chuckled at that as he lead them to their room, "Alright you will be staying here. No guests and no leaving until the judges are ready to give the results. Food will be brought to you by myself."

Izaya chuckled at this, "It sounds like we are on house arrest"

Saburo transformed into a human, "Yeah it kinda feels like that but they just have to do that so no one messes with you until the testing is over."

Shizuo and Izaya accepted this as they walked into the room with Kadota and Saburo behind them. The blonde glanced around the room, it was not bad at all not too classy and not too run down. Perfect. It was like a suit so the blonde was looking forward to resting on the couch and watching some television and having space to move around.

Izaya sat on the couch with Saburo while Shizuo decided to check out the rest of the hotel room. The bathroom was a stand up stall with no tub but he could live with that. He was more of a shower man anyway. He went to the bedroom and stopped dead.

One bed. They only had one bed to share.

"Yeah Mikiya was the one to book the room." Sighed Kadota, "If you did not know the Awakusu do not view youkai in the best of manners. So he is probably just assuming that Izaya would sleep on the couch"

The blonde growled, he really did not like this man. But he turned around and the two humans went back into the living room to see their partners still in the living room. Saburo was now in the shape of a snake and nestled into a nest of Izaya's tails on the couch. The kitsune did not look amused as he glared down at the snake.

Kadota swiftly walked over to the couch and picked up his partner before saying his goodbyes and will bring them breakfast in the morning.

"What's wrong Shizu-chan?" asked Izaya when he looked over to the blonde and saw his disturbed face.

Shizuo let out a deep breath, "There is only one bed" he stated like he was informing someone that their relative had died.

Izaya raised an eyebrow that the emotional statement, "So?"

The teenager's eye went huge, "What do you mean 'so'? We can't both sleep in the bed"

The kitsune laughed for ten minutes straight to the point he was holding his stomach as tried to control himself, "Shizu-chan, we share a bed every night. I will just turn into a fox" he laughed as he did just that.

Shizuo did not know he would ever witness a fox laughing but right before him he could see the little black fur ball cackling at him before it trotted away to the bed and jumped on it. The blonde actually blushed, he could not believe that he forgot that they had been sharing a bed since he had brought the kitsune home. The idea of sharing the bed with the raven man had made him feel nervous and he did not know why.

Seeing the fox fast asleep Shizuo was reminded of how tired he was and decided he should also get some shut eye. They had a long and rough couple of days and he was looking forward to some uninterrupted sleep.

"how could a protozoan like you catch a cold?" grumbled Izaya as he replaced a cold cloth on his partner's forehead.

Shizuo growled, "It's not like I wanted one".

Izaya had woken up in the middle of the night saying that the blonde felt warm and he was coughing in his sleep. They checked his temperature and found that he had a significant fever. Surprisingly Izaya knew a lot about the human body and what to do in the case of a cold. He made the blonde shower while he gather a water basin on cold water and fresh clothes for the blonde from the provided dresser.

Every couple of hours Izaya would wake up the grumpy blonde and make him drink some water and when Kadota came back with breakfast got him to eat that too.

"Couldn't have fooled me. Why did you not at least change out of your wet clothes before going to bed. You idiot" retorted the kitsune before he stood up and left to the living room so the blond could rest.

It was late into the afternoon and Shiuzo was starting to feel better already. He hoped that he would be fine by tomorrow and be able to actually enjoy a relaxing few days before the judges called them for the results. Later that night Shizuo woke up around midnight.

"Stupid fox making me drink so much water" whispered the blonde to himself as he carefully got out of bed.

After relieving himself and stepping out of the bathroom he noticed a lamp on the living area. Quietly making his way towards the light source he saw Izaya sprawled out on the couch with a book open on his chest.

Shizuo's breath caught in the back of his throat. He never really focused on Izaya's looks but right now with Kitsune seemingly defenseless and looking so innocent Shizuo could not help but look over his features. The youkai had very delicate facial features that in his opinion looked a lot better with the kitsune's mouth shut. His black v-neck shirt was riding up slightly most likely from shifting around in his sleep and Shizuo could see that even though he did not have a six pack or anything but his stomach was toned. Izaya's long legs stretched out along the couch and his fluffy tails snuggled around his legs and hung off the side of the furniture.

While Shiuzo had been looking at his partner he noticed that the raven was started to fidget in his sleep. His relaxed face began to pinch and he turned his face to the side almost as if trying to avoid something. In his distress the fox's tails began to fidget as well and Shizuo did not notice until one had wrapped around his leg. Instantly the youkai settled in his sleep when he realized the Shizuo was near him.

With a small chuckled at the fox's actions and not willing to leave him on the couch after the display Shizuo gently pulled the book off of the sleeping youkai's chest and placed it on the coffee table. Then with ease for someone who had inhuman strength Shizuo lifted the kitsune into his arms who snuggled to his chest easily. Shaking his head at how childish Izaya was acting the eighteen year old walked back into the bedroom and put the fox to bed next to him and pulled the blankets over them.

"Good night" whispered the blond as he felt familiar fluffy tails wrap around him.


	18. Chapter 18

**Sorry for the short chapter but I hope you enjoy it!:)**

 **I own nothing.**

It was dark. Cold. Izaya struggled against the bonds holding his arms above his head and wrapped around his neck to hold his body against the slimy wall for most of his time spent in the cell. He had imprisoned in this basement years ago and the torture showed on his body. A collar around his neck prevented him from using his yoki thus, keeping him in his humanoid form and did not let him heal quickly from his beatings. A dirty piece of cloth had been forced between his lips days ago and he had not received any food since then and his stomach growled in protest. His ribs starting to show from the mal-nourishment.

He looked around himself at the dark cell, a small ray of light shined through the bottom of the heavy steal door and barely illuminated the room. He could see shadows moving on the other side of the portal and readied himself for his next torture.

"Awake yet pup?" growled a dark voice.

Red eyes looked into equally as red eyes that pierced through his sole. Izaya glared hard at the youkai standing in front of him. The same one that had been holding him in this cell for years and thinking of new ways to torture him.

The dark figure chuckled before poking at a burn wound on Izaya's arm, making the raven flinch and try to pull the limb against himself except the bonds prevented it.

"I will make you regret ever betraying me." Snarled the other youkai, "You ungrateful child" he added with a slap to Izaya's already bruised and pale face.

Unable to reply back, all Izaya could do was glare. Pleased with the look in his victim's eyes the youkai looked over to the wall on his left, it had an assortment of different weapons. He pulled off a random tool and gave Izaya an evil grin.

"Now let's continue where we left off yesterday" he said before advancing on the bound fox.

Shizuo did not expect to be woken up by his bed mate's thrashing. Or more specifically getting hit in the stomach by a flailing arm. He sat up and tried to figure out what was wrong with the fox. The raven was sweating and gasping for breath in sleep and the blonde knew that this was probably a horrible nightmare.

"Hey Izaya" he called while lightly shaking the youkai's shoulder.

The kitsune tossed his head to the side and tried to fight off the blonde, still in the clutches of his nightmare. Shizuo was getting irritated as he got hit in the face. But his anger deflated at the fox's plea.

"S-sto-stop" gasped the kistune in pain as he struggled against his partner.

Stunned for a second the blonde watched as the raven struggled to push him away and observed how his raven hair was matted with sweat and he looked frightened. After another whimper the blonde gave a small growl as he pulled the blankets back and straddled Izaya's hips to prevent himself from being kicked again. The kitsune cried out in his sleep and tried to push his attacker off but it did nothing to budge the blonde.

"Izaya wake up" he growled as he grabbed the thrashing arms and pinned them down onto the bed by the fox's head.

Still not waking the youkai started to have tears gather in his eyes as he tried to buck the body off of himself, "please, no more" begged Izaya.

Shizuo felt his heart clench at the sight below him. Izaya's small body trembled in fear while trying to fight off his attacker with tears streaming down his face. Shizuo did not know what could possibly be causing the normally fearless and proud kitsune to become like this and he was not sure he wanted to know.

It seemed like Izaya knew what the blonde was thinking because what he said next made him freeze, "Da-dad st-op" gasped the fox.

In his surprise Shizuo tightened his grip on the fox's wrists causing another whimper in pain. Jolted out of his stupor the blonde needed his partner awake now. He maneuvered the smaller wrists into one of his hands and reached over to the his side of the bed and grabbed a glass of water that had been left there yesterday when he was sick.

Taking a deep breath Shizuo splashed the water onto Izaya face and he was rewarded with red eyes springing open and staring into his. Shizuo gave a relieved sigh as he released Izaya's wrists and straightened up a little.

"Shizu-chan?" he panted in confusion.

Using his thumb he gently wiped away the few tears that had rolled down the kitsunes cheeks, "yeah" he said lamely.

Izaya's widened in surprise at the gesturing before his cheeks went deep red. Shizuo was confused why the raven was blushing and titled his head to the side in silent question.

The red eyes narrowed slightly, "Why are you on top of me?"

Seeming to realize his own position Shiuzo quickly jumped off of his partner and stood next to the bed as the raven sat up and looked around himself. Taking in the wet shirt and the messed up bed as well as the sun filtering through the blinds.

"I am gonna see if Kadota dropped off breakfast" said Shizuo after a moment and left the room.

Izaya could still feel the blush on his cheeks and flopped back onto the bed with an oomf.

"What is wrong with me?" Izaya mumbled to himself.

He could hear Shizuo moving around in the kitchen and heard the tv turn on so he decided to get out of bed and wanted to change out of his wet shirt. He didn't know why the blonde had decided to wake him up with a cup of water to the face but he was going to find out, after a shower.

After the shower he rummaged through the dresser that was in the room and was pleased to find a black t-shirt but was a little annoyed that the only bottoms he could find that would fit were very short black shorts. But left with no other options at the moment he put them on along with his jacket. The jacket covered more than the stupid shorts.

"What are you wearing?" asked a startled voice.

Kadota and Saburo stood in the common area with Shizuo as they set the table for breakfast. Izaya smirked at the blonde who had spoken.

"Clothes you brute" he said as he sat down at the table next to Saburo who was a monkey now.

Shizuo growled at the fox but ignored it for now as they sat down to eat. Kadota told them that tomorrow would be the final ceremony for the exams.

Saburo chimed in happily, "Oh and everyone wants to see the famous kitsune"

Shizuo rolled his eyes at this while Izaya chuckled at how amazing humans are. Kadota and Saburo left soon after breakfast stating that they also brought food for their lunch and dinner and would see them in the morning.

"So what should we do today?" asked Shizuo as he sat on the couch with a bottle of water next to the fox who was reading a book.

Without looking up from his reading Izaya scrunched his nose, "You should start with a shower" he said while flipping the page.

Shizuo smelt his shirt and granted it did not smell like fresh flowers it still was not all that bad, "Well you don't smell like daisies" he grumbled in reply as he took a sip from his bottle.

The kitsune closed his book with a snap and glared at the blonde, "I take excellent care of my bodily hygiene. I also, showered this morning unlike you"

"Yeah well after dealing with your freak out this morning I did not feel like taking a shower" he grumbled in reply.

Izaya froze. He had forgotten about what had happened earlier in the morning. Shizuo did not notice and continued on his irritated ramble.

"What was that freak out about anyway? You hit me in the face and you started to cry and everything" he continued.

Izaya blushed bright red in embarrassment. But at least now he knew that he had had a nightmare. The kitsune did not reply as Shizuo continued.

"Did your dad beat you or something?" he asked suddenly.

Red eyes widened in surprise. He had not been expecting that. He must have spoken in his sleep, the kitsune was no longer embarrassed, he was mad with himself for letting the human see him this way. He was too stunned to reply.

Shizuo stood up, "Well it doesn't matter. Just don't punch me in the face again" he said awkwardly before going to take a shower.

Izaya tossed the book he was reading onto the coffee table in frustration. Once he was sure that the blonde was occupied in the shower the kitsune reached into his pocket and pulled out a cellphone that no one knew that he had. He quickly dialed a number and put the device next to his face.

"Long time no speak" chuckled the fox.

"What the hell do you want?" asked an irritated voice.

Izaya got off the couch and walked over to the window to take a glance outside, "I will be coming to see you soon and I am going to need you to watch over something for me until I can come back for it"

He smirked when he heard a huff of annoyance, "Why would I do this? I don't owe you anything, you have been missing for years"

Izaya let out an ominous laugh that caused the person on the other line to feel a shiver down their spine, "I will make it worth your while. I know that you have been looking for something and I know where to find it"

After a long moment Izaya heard an affirmative and he hung up. He slipped the phone into his pocket just as Shizuo was walking out of the bedroom dressed in grey sweats and a white t-shirt.

"Do we know what the next part of the exam is?" asked the blonde.

Izaya realized the Shizuo was going to pretend like the nightmare did not happen and Izaya was more than willing to play along with it.

"No clue Shizu-chan this is your test thing" shrugged the fox as he played with the blinds.

The blonde glared slightly at the nickname but ignored it, "Kadota mentioned that we might have to fight the others who also finished"

Izaya thought about that for a moment, "That sounds right. We proved that we can complete a mission now we need to prove that we can fight. Remember what Shiki said on the bus from the field trip?"

Shizuo relaxed on the couch and changed the channel and stopped it when he saw a movie that his brother played in, "You mean when he talked about that youkai king and how we need to fight him?"

The fox nodded as he moved over to the couch as well, "Correct Shizu-chan! Wow I am surprised you can remember anything with that protozoan brain of yours" he chuckled. "Hunters need to prove that they can hold their own in battle when war breaks out" he said while playing with the sleeves of his coat.

Shizuo growled in annoyance, "So we have been trained to be soldiers for all these years?"

Izaya shrugged, "not any different compared to youkai upbringing"

The blonde glanced at the fox that was lounging next to him. He forgot that his partner was from an opposite world and had no idea what the fox had gone through. But from what had happened in the morning he could hazard a few guesses and they were not good.

"Oh Shizu-chan turn up the volume" exclaimed the fox as the movie that had been on in the background ended and a kids show came on next.

The blonde looked at the fox strangely but turned up the cartoon as he watched the fox become mesmerized by the show. His partner was weird sometimes.


	19. Chapter 19

**This is extremely short and I am so sorry. I tried to work on it during the plane ride and didn't want to delay the next update. The next chapter will be longer I promise.**

Izaya's calculating eyes scanned the group around them. They were back at the complex where they had started the exam and of the twenty pairs only ten made it through the first stage. Many of the people in the crowd could be heard heckling at the kitsune, it seems he was till not liked by most of the residence. Humans are so much fun.

"Shizu-chan do you know any of these people?" asked Izaya as he gestured to the other participants.

The blonde gave a yawn, it was still early in the morning "Nah some people take the exam a few years after graduation or have to take it a few times. None of these guys were in my class."

The fox gave a thoughtful look at the other youkai in the arena. The crowd's volume increased as the judges and blonde woman walked out onto the small stage that was set up off to the side of the arena.

Yodogiri grabbed a microphone that was attached to a large system that had been inserted into the stands for the crowd, "Congratulations for completing the first task. Now I know we said it would be sudden death but we had too many participants make it to the finish. So we will do another test." he said with a grandfatherly twinkle in his eyes.

The testing this year was apparently very different compared to former years and no one knew what to expect and it was creating a large hype in the town. Some people in the crowd cheered at the prospect of seeing something new and other were against the declaration.

"I would like to introduce our third judge, she was a little late for the opening Russian liaison, Vorona. She will be staying in our humble town and working along side our hunters" he introduced the blonde woman by his side.

Shizuo was surprised that the girl was already a hunter and from Russia she looked to be his age. The Russian did not say anything but gave a shy wave to the crowd. Mikiya spoke over the sound system next to explain that the participants would fight each other in a bracket style tournament.

"Now let the fight begin" yelled out Mikiya and the audience yelled in agreement.

Shizuo and Izaya were in the first fight against a woman in her mid thirties dressed in a long black dress and equal dark hip waste hair. Her youkai looked like a dark brown vine wrapped around her left arm.

"Do you know what that is?" asked Shizuo as they stood across from their opponent.

The fox took a moment to think, "I might have an idea of what it is. But we will have to wait and see" he said cryptically.

Shizuo rolled his eyes, "Ok well go find out then" he said.

"Shizu-chan that is now how you ask someone to do something for you" he said with a smirk and turned his attention to his partner.

Without replying the blonde grabbed the kitsune by the arm in a deathly grip before throwing him at the girl with super strength.

"It seems team Heiwajime will make the first move" cracked a voice over the intercom.

The vine around the girl's arm pulsed and jumped off her host and tackled the incoming fox mid air. They tumbled to the ground and Izaya struggled to get out of the constricting youkai. He could feel a coarse thick vine snake around his neck while his limbs were immobilized.

"What are you doing Flee. Get that thing off of you" yelled Shizuo annoyed.

Izaya spared his partner a glare before gathering his yoki and lighting his attacker on fire. A loud in human voice pierced the air as the vegetable youkai jumped off of the fox and jumped back to it's human. The red eyed fox gasped as he tried to regain his breath from his almost strangulation.

"Shizu-chan, you can help to you know" growled the fox.

The blonde rolled his eyes as he walked over to a average size tree that was on the battle grounds. He uprooted it and help it like a baseball bat. The girl clutched her tangled youkai to her chest as she screeched in fright as the blonde wound up to throw the vegetation.

"I forfeit" she yelled as quickly as she could.

Shizuo dropped the tree with a grunt and turned to the judges who had surprised looks on their faces at the display from the human teenager. Satisfied the pair moved off to the side for the next participants and gladly accepted water from Kadota and Tom.

Please review and let me know what you think of the story so far :)


	20. Chapter 20

Hello all! I am so sorry that it has taken me this long to post a new chapter. I had writers block for a while and then I was working two jobs and an internship all last quarter. But my internship is over and most of my classes are online so I hope I will have more time for you all!:) Thank you for your patience and wonderful comments.

This is really short but I wanted to reward you all so please make do with this for a little longer!

Kadota gave a hesitant congratulations at the quick victory while Tom produced two bottles of water for them.

"Way to use your surrounding Shizuo" Tom said with a friendly smile.

The blonde was glad that these two hunter did not seem afraid of his strange strength but he figured they had seen weird things during missions. The judges called the next two pairs and they turned their attention to the fight.

The two humans were only a year or two older than Shizuo. One of them was severely lacking in the fitness department as he crossed his chubby arms over his swollen belly, trying to look intimidating. The taller brunette on the other side of the ring raised an eyebrow at the display but instead turned his attention to his partner.

The youkai looked very human, similar to his partner but with fiery red hair. If Shizuo had passed him on the street he would not have even spared a glance.

"Izaya what kinda youkai is he?" the blonde asked the fox.

Instead a monkey that was hanging off of Kadota's shoulder answered, "He's a young Jin"

The blonde did not know what that was and it was clear by the look on his face and Tom chuckled.

"They are not from this area and are really close to a human makeup except that they can turn invisible. In other countries most people don't even view Jin as a youkai because so many people have Jin in their blood" The dreaded man explained as the young youkai disappeared before their eyes.

Shizuo was surprised to hear that some places youkai live with humans so closely. It was unheard of from all of his books and lectures from class. Having a partner by a blood contract is very different from being able to trust a youkai and live with them. He glanced at Izaya subtly as he tried to imagine being able to form a bond with the fox based around trust and friendship. He couldn't see it, the kitsune was an arrogant and annoying youkai who liked to play with people and if Shizuo had met him before the night they met he might not have even saved him from Shiki.

The blonde felt his eyebrow twitch as irritation started to grow inside him when he remembers that Shiki and Izaya had already had an arrangement and Shizuo had put himself in danger for no reason.

"don't work that puny brain too hard Shizu-chan" chuckled Izaya without even glancing at his partner.

The fight in front of them was not progressing very quickly. The Jin had disappeared and the chubby human with his green troll looking youkai were freaking out slightly. The Jin had yet to make its move though and Izaya was starting to get bored so he picked on Shizuo.

Shizuo growled in anger and tried to throw a punch but Izaya easily dodged. The blonde was ready to start a real fight with the fox when he heard the crowd start to cheer. Curious how the fight was going the pair glanced over at current fight and saw that the Jin had the troll on the ground knocked out.

"What happened?" Shizuo asked the two hunters next to him.

Kadota and Tom seemed stunned in silence for a moment as they just stared blankly at the scene, "The troll just fell over. I am guessing the Jin was able to deliver a knockout punch to a weak spot" informed Kadota.

Izaya huffed, "well that is anti climatic. The next group better be more entertaining"

The crowd seemed to be of the same mindset as they heard grumblings and annoyed complaints. The judges quickly set the next match into motion. The two humans reminded Izaya of the annoying kids that picked a fight with Shizuo in the cafeteria. Dumb and only wanting to fight.

Their youkai were of the same species and Shizuo thinks that they must be common in this area because he has seen a lot of people with these types of partners. Large ogres who are known for being dumb and will fight with anything that even looks like a challenge, including large rocks in their way.

The two ogres were on each other in moments. Fists flying and blood splattered on the ground. The crowd was going crazy at the brutal match. Izaya was smiling as he observed the humans.

"What are you so happy about?" grumbled the blonde with a raised eyebrow.

Izaya's bright red eyes locked onto Shizuo's "Human reactions are so wonderful and primitive."

The blonde rolled his eyes at the comment and just chose to ignore his partner's weird interests as he watched the ogers continue to fight. So far the blonde was not too concerned about having to fight anyone in the next round. No one was standing out as a big competitor and Shizuo was kind of annoyed with that.

Finally one of the ogres fell and the crowd continued to cheer. Kadota and Tom had a whispered discussion about the fight but Shizuo was not able to hear it. The next two matches passed in a similar fashion with a chimera winning the next match and centaur winning the last.

The young woman, Vorona rose from her seat on the judges podium her calculating eyes scanned over the crowd and the remaining competitors. The spectators went silent as they wait with baited breath for the next round.

I hope this was sufficient for now, thank you all again for not giving up on me haha


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